Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón is in attendance at the 97th Academy Awards despite being at the center of a scandal for her past offensive tweets. The Best Actress Oscar nominee attended the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 2, wearing a single-shoulder black dress. She seemingly skipped the red carpet, but was spotted inside the event during host Conan O'Brien's opening monologue.
Gascón had previously skipped several major award shows since facing backlash, not attending the Oscar nominee dinner at the Academy Museum earlier this week. She did attend the recent 50th annual César Awards in Paris on Friday, Feb. 28, which marked her first appearance at an event following backlash to old social media posts.
Emilia Pérez is the most-nominated film at Sunday's 97th Academy Awards, with 13 nominations including Best Picture. Gascón is the first openly transgender star to be nominated for Best Actress, but following her historic nomination, she came under fire for old tweets criticizing George Floyd, diversity, and more. The actress has since deactivated her X account and given several statements refuting any accusations of racism.
In an Instagram post on Feb. 6, Gascón wrote that she hoped her “silence will allow the film to be appreciated for what it is, a beautiful ode to love and difference." She added, "I sincerely apologize to everyone who has been hurt along the way."
During his opening monologue, host O’Brien wasted no time addressed the elephant in the room and pointing straight to the controversy that erupted over Gascón’s posts.
“Little fact for you: ‘Anora’ uses the F-word 479 times,” O’Brien began. “That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist.” O’Brien proceeded to pitched imitate Gascón’s reps, yelling, “You tweeted WHAT?!” before dancing around the stage to laughs.
The camera then cut to Gascón, who seemed to be in on the joke, making prayer hands and seemingly thanking Conan for addressing her.
“Karla, if you’re going to tweet about the Oscars, remember, my name is Jimmy Kimmel,” Conan joked.
Gasón's costar, Zoe Saldaña, is also in the audience, nominated tonight in the Best Supporting Actress category. She addressed the scandal during a Q&A in late January, admitting that the situation made her sad.
“It makes me really sad because I don’t support [it], and I don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group,” Saldaña said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “I can only attest to the experience that I had with each and every individual that was a part, that is a part, of this film, and my experience and my interactions with them was about inclusivity and collaboration and racial, cultural, and gender equity. And it just saddens me.”