'Emilia Pérez' star Karla Sofía Gascón wins Critics Choice Award amid Oscar controversy

USA Today

08-02-2025

SANTA MONICA, Calif. − Spanish actor Karla Sofía Gascón was one of three "Emilia Pérez" women to win the Critics Choice Award for best song, despite finding herself at the center of Oscar controversy.
The film's song "El Mal" won best song at the awards show Friday night, a prize that went to Gascón, co-star Zoe Saldaña and French singer-songwriter Camille (aka Camille Dalmais).
Gascón, 52, was not in attendance at the ceremony. While the Netflix film won three categories, she wasn't mentioned by name in any acceptance speech for the movie.
"Thank you to the 'Emilia Pérez' team, and for Zoe for being such a great artist," Camille said while accepting best song.
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Voting for the Critics Choice Awards concluded before the controversy surrounding Gascón's past comments broke out. Gascón, who plays the titular role in "Emilia Pérez," has recently garnered headlines for a series of controversial social media posts aimed at Muslim and Black people and diversity at the Oscars.
Karla Sofía Gascón has deactivated her X account amid backlash over her controversial tweets
Gascón has since deactivated her X account after backlash for her prior posts.
In a tweet dated Nov. 23, 2020, which was translated by USA TODAY, Gascón wrote in Spanish: "Sorry, is it just me or are there more Muslims in Spain? Every time I pick up my daughter from school there are more women with their hair covered and their skirts down to their heels. Next year instead of English, we'll have to teach Arabic …"
In another post, the Oscar nominee also criticized the Academy for its 2021 awards show ceremony, the first following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
"More and more the #Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films, I didn't know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M," Gascón wrote. "Apart from that, an ugly, ugly gala."
In a Tuesday Instagram post, Gascón thanked "Emilia Pérez" director Jacques Audiard as well as the cast and crew for supporting and understanding her process. She added, "They want to apply 'cancel culture' to me. I ask Hollywood experts, journalists who know me and have followed my career, how can we move forward?"
Two days prior, she wrote a lengthy Instagram post saying she "will never ask for forgiveness" and defending her family as "the opposite" of racist. She also said her past social media posts were shared without context of world events "they were actually responding to." That same day, she appeared on CNN en Español for a 50-minute interview with Juan Carlos Arciniegas.
Zoe Saldaña, 'Emilia Pérez' director Jacques Audiard give Gascón-free speeches
Saldaña continued her winning streak by taking best supporting actress at Critics Choice.
The "Avatar" star pulled out a sheet paper for her speech, which did not mention Gascón, saying the speech wasn't put into the teleprompter 'because it was going to be tacky if I assume I'm going to win." She also thanked Audiard, adding that "playing Rita was the challenge of a lifetime."
'To think that 'Emilia Pérez' has been the little movie that could and has resonated with so many people has been an experience worth having," she added. "To the entire cast and crew, the talented artists and designers and musicians, I share this with you."
Speaking through a translator on the speech, the French director said, "I feel like I've died and gone to heaven" after receiving his award from film icon Jackie Chan.
"I've prepared three speeches, that seems a bit presumptuous," Audiard added. Without mentioning Gascón, he thanked the critics who voted.
"This prize is the proof you have found me and I thank you with all my heart," he said.
Contributing: KiMi Robinson