Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofia Gascón drags social media beef into Oscars race

Emilia Pérez star and Oscar nominee Karla Sofia Gascón did not break Academy rules, reports Variety, but she has certainly created the next mess of an already messy awards season. 

In a clip shared widely on Twitter/X yesterday, Gascón suggests that “people working with Fernanda Torres” were harassing her online. “What I don’t like are social media teams—people who work with these people—trying to diminish our work, like me and my movie, because that doesn’t lead anywhere. You don’t need to tear down someone’s work to highlight another’s,” Gascón says in the clip, per Variety’s translation. (The interview was conducted with Brazilian outlet Fohla de S.Paulo on January 21, but published yesterday.) “I have never, at any point, said anything bad about Fernanda Torres or her movie. However, there are people working with Fernanda Torres tearing me and Emilia Pérez down. That speaks more about their movie than mine.”

It’s quite an accusation, and one that led to more social media speculation yesterday that Gascón has violated Academy rules by bringing Torres’ name into the mix. However, Variety notes that because Gascón did not diminish her fellow nominee’s performance, she didn’t violate Academy rules. These remarks are still a bit confusing, though; the now-Community Noted post on X comments that Torres’ movie, I’m Still Here, doesn’t have an official social media profile. On Instagram five days ago, Torres shared a video where she praises Gascón specifically, telling a story where Torres had just arrived in Los Angeles for a W Magazine party at the Chateau Marmont where Gascón was the first actress to welcome and embrace her. 

Gascón has since amended her statement. “I am an enormous fan of Fernanda Torres and it has been wonderful getting to know her the past few months,” the Emilia Pérez star said, per Variety. “In my recent comments, I was referencing the toxicity and violent hate speech on social media that I sadly continue to experience. Fernanda has been a wonderful ally, and no one directly associated with her has been anything but supportive and hugely generous.” Gascón is the first transgender performer to be nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars, and given how things are going with social media overall, it stands to reason that she would experience an inordinate amount of toxicity. Critics and spectators have also noted that behavior normally confined to the realm of Stan Twitter has also infiltrated the Oscar race this year, given the inclusion of major pop stars Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez into some of the year's biggest races. That being said,  it's still a bit confusing what I’m Still Here has to do with that.