Karla Sofía Gascón, star of Emilia Peréz, has opened up on her experience dealing with the fallout of her past racist tweets coming to light.
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In late January, past tweets were discovered on Gascón’s account, which expressed derogatory views about Muslims, the 2020 murder of George Floyd, and the Oscars. In one since-deleted post, she posted a picture of a Muslim family with a woman in a burka, describing the clothing tradition as “deeply disgusting”.
Gascón, who was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars for her role in Emilia Peréz, soon after apologised but later argued that her tweets were taken out of context, and denied that she was racist. In early February, Emilia Pérez co-star Zoe Saldaña commented on the controversy, saying she was “sad” and “also disappointed”. Fellow cast member Selena Gomez would also talk about the impact of the story, saying “some of the magic has disappeared.”
Now, Gascón has since shared a lengthy statement with The Hollywood Reporter in which she expresses her regret and sorrow for her past tweets, her personal struggles with the controversy and her admiration for Mexico and its people.
Gascón wrote: “Lately, as I have been the target of harmful words, I have also said hurtful things throughout my life that have caused others to feel offended—things done and said from fear, from my own ignorance, from my own pain, from the outside of that cold, upsetting shield.”
“With no excuse, and without any intention to justify any of my past actions, I apologize to all I have offended at any point in my life and throughout my journey. I humbly ask for their forgiveness and, to honour their kindness and understanding, I promise I will commit to continuing to learn and listen, so as not to make the same mistakes in the future,” she continues.
Later on in the statement, Gascón shares that she wants “to open an honest discussion and reflection on mental health” for the sake of her daughter and future generations: “Throughout different stages of my life, I have gone through dark moments—episodes in which despair led me to unexpected places. In this last episode, the most talked about and most exposed of my life, several fake accounts were created in my name to add to the pain and confusion. Absurd and even delirious accusations were thrown at me, which deeply hurt my spirit. Things escalated to a point, and so quickly, that I couldn’t even breathe.”
“Amid this unexpected, devastating storm, there have been moments when the pain has been so overwhelming that I contemplated the unthinkable. I harboured darker thoughts than those I considered in some of my previous, no less intimate and personal struggles. And I asked myself: ‘if I, with all my strength and preparedness to deal with rage and rejection, am on the edge, what would have become of someone with fewer emotional resources to resist this onslaught?’ Somehow, I made it. Others would not have survived this brutal winter I am about to wrap up.”
“Now that the storm is calming down a bit, and the worst has passed (or so I hope), I start seeing clearly what I have learned. I’ve learned that hatred, like fire, cannot be put down with more hatred. Offenses cannot be erased with more offenses, and mistakes cannot clean up other mistakes, especially when lies and falseness proliferate all around and when all they send back to me is pure rage, blatant bullying, vexation, scorn, and even death threats.”
Towards the end of her statement, Gascón writes: “Only through understanding, compassion, forgiveness, and empathy can we build a world where difference is not synonymous with condemnation, but with richness. A world where we can learn and grow as we go. A world where we can all put our shields aside and be ourselves.”
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At the Oscars, Emilia Peréz broke records by becoming the most-nominated film in the award show’s history, clocking in 13 nods, but only winning two: Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña and Best Original Song for ‘El Mal’.
Following Saldaña’s win, she apologised after being told Emilia Perez was “really hurtful” for Mexicans, explaining: “We spoke from a place of love”. Host Conan O’Brien also openly mocked Karla Sofía Gascón to her face, saying “Anora uses the ‘F-word’ 479 times – that’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist,” before mimicking the publicist on the phone shouting: “she tweeted what??”
Later he would say: “Karla Sofía Gascón is here tonight – and Karla, if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, my name is Jimmy Kimmel”.
For help and advice on mental health:
- CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably
- Help Musicians UK – Around the clock mental health support and advice for musicians (CALL MUSIC MINDS MATTER ON: 0808 802 8008)
- Music Support Org – Help and support for musicians struggling with alcoholism, addiction, or mental health issues (CALL: 0800 030 6789)
- YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
- Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
- The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day
The post ‘Emilia Peréz’ star Karla Sofía Gascón on dealing with racist tweets controversy: “I contemplated the unthinkable” appeared first on NME.