Karla Sofía Gascón has reportedly been removed from the awards campaign for Emilia Pérez. Gascón and the Netflix movie have faced considerable backlash due to the star’s controversial social media posts she made in the past. Emilia Pérez was doing well during the awards season, including winning four Golden Globe Awards and receiving 13 Oscar nominations. However, the controversy surrounding Gascón’s racist and problematic tweets now threaten Emilia Pérez’s hopes of winning an Oscar.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has now made the decision to remove Gascón from the Academy Awards campaign. The studio will no longer be funding any of her trave related to the awardsl, including transportation and accommodations, and she will need to pay her own way. Gascón was slated to appear at the Critics’ Choice Awards, the PGA Awards, and other awards-related events in Los Angeles this week to represent Emilia Pérez and continue the movie’s Oscars campaign, but she will no longer be attending as Netflix attempts to distance itself from her.

The controversy has left voters divided on whether it should impact Emilia Pérez‘s chances of winning an Academy Award. Several Academy Award members, who chose to remain anonymous, spoke with Variety, with one admitting that “I almost felt sorry for her at first, but now I’m like, ‘F*** that.’” Meanwhile, another voter explained “I don’t think it affects anything. I judge the film on its merits. I can’t judge what others do outside of it.” A third voter is less forgiving, emphasizing that “I don’t want to live in a world where a racist and bigot is highlighted and rewarded.”

While speaking with ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard has disavowed Gascón, her social media posts, and the comments she has made. He describes her actions as “self-destructive” and how upset he is to see her hurting the entire cast and crew of the Netflix movie through her comments and actions. Audiard also encourages Gascón to take accountability moving forward. Read his comments below:

I haven’t spoken to her, and I don’t want to. She is in a self-destructive approach that I can’t interfere in, and I really don’t understand why she’s continuing. Why is she harming herself? Why? I don’t understand it, and what I don’t understand about this too is why she’s harming people who were very close to her. I’m thinking in this thing of how hurting others, of how she’s hurting the crew and all these people who worked so incredibly hard on this film. I’m thinking of myself, I’m thinking of Zoe [Saldaña] and Selena [Gomez]. I just don’t understand why she’s continuing to harm us. I’m not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions.

What This Means For Emilia Pérez

The Movie’s Best Picture And Best Actress Hopes Are Gone

As the controversy continues to unfold, Emilia Pérez‘s Oscars chances seem increasingly worse, especially when it comes to Best Picture and Best Actress. While some voters are willing to look past the controversy and are more concerned with the movie itself, others, even those initially willing to give Gascón the benefit of the doubt, are unwilling to look past her offensive messages. The Academy will not want to reward her for Best Actress under these circumstances, and it is also highly unlikely that Emilia Pérez will now win the prestigious award for Best Picture.

Netflix has put considerable resources into the awards success of Emilia Pérez, with clear hopes of it becoming the streaming platform’s first-ever Best Picture winner. At this point, it would feel disingenuous to make the choice to celebrate a movie that has become so controversial and that is distancing itself from the star who played the тιтular character. The Academy will undoubtedly move forward in a different direction for Best Actress and Best Picture.

Our Take On Emilia Pérez’s Oscars Controversy

Less Controversial And More Deserving Winners Should Be Recognized

The movie’s Oscars chances are no longer about Emilia Pérez’s reviews and overall reception. While the movie was meant to celebrate diversity and be an innovative work of art, this is now all overshadowed by Gascón’s past comments. As much as Netflix wants one of their movies to win Best Picture and to dominate at the Academy Awards, it is not going to happen with Emilia Pérez. There are plenty of other less controversial and deserving winners that can be rewarded.

Source: THR, Variety, ᴅᴇᴀᴅline