Selena Gomez breaks silence on 'Emilia Pérez' co-star's offensive posts
Selena Gomez is breaking her silence as her film "Emilia Pérez" is embroiled in a PR crisis due to past social media posts from co-star Karla Sofía Gascón.
In a Q&A about her Virtuosos Award win during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Sunday, the Golden Globe nominee admitted that the recent controversy has impacted the way she's been feeling as the Netflix crime drama musical collects trophies at Hollywood award shows.
"I'm good. I'm really good," Gomez, 32, said. "Some of the magic has disappeared. But I choose to continue to be proud of what I've done, and I'm just grateful. I live with no regrets, and I would do this movie over and over again if I could."
Gomez's comment comes days after director Jacques Audiard distanced himself from Gascón in a Feb. 5 interview with Deadline, calling her past social media posts "inexcusable" and confirming he had not been in contact with her since they became public. In recent weeks, Gascón has made a number of public statements in response to her racist and xenophobic social media posts that an X user resurfaced at the end of January.
This is a critical time for Hollywood's award season, with final votes for the March 2 Academy Awards due on Feb. 18. "Emilia Pérez" leads with 13 nominations.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Gascón has offered her "sincerest apologies" for her past comments aimed at Muslim people, Oscars diversity and George Floyd, which were seemingly posted as recently as 2020. However, she also denounced the people who brought her years-old posts to the forefront, writing, "They have achieved their objective, to stain my existence with lies or things taken out of context."
In a 50-minute interview with Juan Carlos Arciniegas for CNN en Español on Feb. 2, Gascón said she did not "recognize" some of the old posts social media users have called out, per CNN.
Selena Gomez casts doubt on future of her music career
During the Q&A, Gomez expressed excitement for her acting career, which has been marked by Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for "Only Murders in the Building" and "Emilia Pérez," respectively.
"Having someone see something in me besides the obvious was such a special experience," Gomez said. "The director just really trusted me, and I was so grateful because I've gotten to show people that I am capable of doing more. And I hope this is just the beginning for me in this field."
She also cast doubt on her future as a singer.
'Emilia Pérez' controversy:Why 'torturous' movie is criticized for its representation
"I'm ready to just focus on this for a while," Gomez said. " I think film and art making and being around such incredible, talented people that have done nothing but uplift me along the way. I don't know, it's going to be hard for me to ever go back to music after this."
After the film festival crowd expressed shock at this admission, Gomez laughed for at least 10 seconds. When asked whether she would "never say never," the Disney Channel alum replied: "Maybe."
Gascón was also among this year's recipients of the Virtuosos Award but was not in attendance at the film festival. The award, which is presented to "'up-and-coming' actors for achieving a breakthrough performance," also named Kieran Culkin, Ariana Grande, Mikey Madison Harris Dickinson, Clarence Maclin and John Magaro as honorees.
Meanwhile, "Emilia Pérez" co-star Zoe Saldaña was named the recipient of SBIFF's American Riviera Award, which honors "outstanding achievement in American film." The actress has also criticized Gascón's posts.
"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 at a Q&A on Jan. 31, per a video by The Hollywood Reporter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
42 minutes ago
- UPI
Watch: Le Sserafim performs theme song in 'My Melody & Kuromi'
1 of 2 | "My Melody & Kuromi" arrives on Netflix July 24. Photo courtesy of Netflix June 12 (UPI) -- South Korean girl group Le Sserafim performs the theme song for the upcoming stop-motion animated series My Melody & Kuromi in a trailer released Wednesday. The K-pop group's song "Kawaii" will introduce each episode of the upcoming series featuring Sanrio characters My Melody and Kuromi. "I was really captivated by the adorable world of Mariland! The characters' expressions were very rich and entertaining to watch," group member Hong Eunchae said in a press release. My Melody was created in 1975, while Kuromi arrived in 2005. In the upcoming Netflix show, My Melody helms a successful Mariland cake shop, while Kuromi, "her self-proclaimed rival" owns a competing sweet treat business that isn't doing well. "One day, My Melody encounters a pink heart in the forest, which sets off a series of strange events in Mariland," an official synopsis reads. "And the two are suddenly faced with a crisis that threatens everyone. Can they protect their town and their friends?" Le Sserafim, which also includes Kim Chaewon, Sakura, Huh Yunjin and Kazuha, is currently on tour. My Melody & Kuromi streams on Netflix beginning July 24.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Michelle Obama reveals her marriage mentor after slamming Barack Obama divorce rumors
Michelle Obama reveals her marriage mentor after slamming Barack Obama divorce rumors Show Caption Hide Caption Malia Obama's stage name The oldest daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama is now officially going by the name Malia Ann. unbranded - Entertainment Michelle Obama is revealing who she and former President Barack Obama look to for marriage advice. On the Wednesday, June 11, episode of her podcast "IMO," which she co- hosted solo without cohost and brother Craig Robinson, the former first lady welcomed family friend Bruce Springsteen onto the show as a guest. During their conversation, the "Becoming" author revealed that the former White House residents look to the "Born in the U.S.A." singer and his wife Patti Scialfa as their marriage mentors. "I marvel at you and Patti and the work that you all have done," Obama told the rocker. "You and Patti have been couple mentors for me and Barack for quite some time." Springsteen responded by saying, "Woah, alright." Michelle Obama reveals daughter Malia Obama's name change Obama said the couple is "watching you guys do the work, getting advice on how to keep those lines of communication open" and applauded Springsteen and Scialfa as "two powerful people" and "powerhouses in (their) own right and merging those lives together." Days before the episode dropped, on Monday, June 8, Scialfa celebrated her 34th wedding anniversary on Instagram with a throwback photo, writing, "Our one year anniversary…. Bruce surprised me with a beautiful party ….. today marks 34 years …" The Obamas' marriage has became a key focal point in their post-presidency pursuits in recent months after onlookers noticed that the "Becoming" on Netflix star skipped Trump's second inauguration in January, sparking viral divorce rumors. But the forthcoming "Look" book author slammed critics on "IMO" in April when breaking her silence on the matter. "My decision to skip the inauguration — or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me — were met with such ridicule and criticism," Obama explained during the episode. "People couldn't believe that I was saying no for any other reason. They had to assume that my marriage was falling apart."
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Inside Simone's Style Transformation on 'Sirens',' 'from 'Ornamental' Staff to Lady of the House (Exclusive)
Sirens costume designer Caroline Duncan tells PEOPLE how she transformed Simone, played by Milly Alcock, from an assistant to the lady of the house Duncan used clothing details on Simone's character to make her go from "youthful little girl into a woman" in the span of a weekend The costume designer also describes how she built one of the most important costume pieces in the show: Simone's gala dressWarning: Some spoilers ahead for Netflix's . The costumes in Netflix's Sirens are have a story arc of their own. Costume designer Caroline Duncan crafted a whole story behind the pieces the characters wear on the limited series, from the custom Lilly Pulitzer pieces to the pastel Vineyard Vines splashed across the Cliff House and beyond. For one character in particular, her clothes speak to an evolution unlike anyone else on the show. "With Milly's clothing in the [Lilly] Pulitzer palette, I wanted her to feel like she's part of this world, but she's not actually a member of this society yet. She works for Michaela. So her costumes have to feel as if she's following Michaela's rules and she wants to be perfect," Duncan says of Milly Alcock, who plays the role of Simone, the assistant to Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore). "Part of her whole journey is letting go of this perfectionism and this mania and these panic attacks that she has throughout the miniseries have to do with her losing control when Devon shows up. So she starts in this very, very girly pink and white goop Pulitzer collaboration that we trimmed out with some extra doily features. And then the next dress she wears is one that we built from a furniture fabric to double down on the fact that she feels like one of the furnishings in Michaela's home, that she's been de-individualized by being a part of this posse of sycophants." In the show, Simone comes to Cliff House — Michaela's home that she owns with her billionaire husband, Peter Kell (Kevin Bacon), to be her assistant. It's there on a New England island that she becomes this new version of herself that her sister, Devon (Meghann Fahy), doesn't recognize. In the beginning, audiences meet her as a bubbly assistant who tends to Michaela's every beck and call, wearing brightly colored clothes to match the aesthetic. But as Duncan points out, Simone does not stand out, she is part of the staff, and like the rest of the staff — who wear mint green uniforms and are "ornamental" to match the color of the kitchen — she blends in and is treated as such. However, as the story unfolds, Simone retreats into her old self before transforming into the true main character, overtaking Michaela herself. Simone's wardrobe transformation culminates in an icy blue dress that she wears for Michaela and Peter's gala at Cliff House. It's a floor-length gown that viewers know Michaela hand-picked for Simone to wear. What viewers don't know is that this dress is the final shift in Simone taking Michaela's place as the head of the household by Peter's side. Duncan says there was a lot of pressure to get that dress perfect, which is why she built it from scratch. "I looked to see if I could find something that felt right for her, and the reason that I leaned into this silhouette that we ended up constructing for Milly is, she has such a fast evolution over the course of really three days. She has to completely transform from this youthful little girl into a woman. She also has to still feel like a siren," Duncan explains. The costume designer also wanted the color of the dress to blend with the sky as Simone was standing on the edge of the cliff in the final shot of the show because the character, in theory, now belongs in her surroundings. "We made the dress out of a stretched satin so that it would have this ripple through the fabric and this reflective quality that echoed the clouds and the sky," Duncan says. "It had to accomplish a lot of things, and I wanted it to fall off of one shoulder to feel draped like a Greek goddess." Duncan says it was also important to look at how Simone's dress would play against Michaela's, because the two needed to go toe to toe before Michaela made her grand exit, leaving Simone as the new lady of the house. She already had Michaela's dress picked out — a marigold chiffon McQueen number that she says fit Moore perfectly. An icy silver blue dress felt like the right counterpoint to that. In the end, Duncan says the dress makes the character resemble a "statue," because Simone is a bit of a "trophy wife," repeating a cycle for Peter. There was Jocelyn (the first wife), then Michaela and now Simone. "She had to feel breathlessly and iconically like she fit into this cycle that may or may not continue, Duncan says. "We don't know where her story will go." Sirens is streaming now on Netflix. Read the original article on People
