Oscars Scandal: Actress Karla Sofía Gascón's Controversial Past Resurfaces

In November 2025, the entertainment world was rocked by a scandal surrounding Karla Sofía Gascón, an Oscar-nominated actress who had risen to fame alongside Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña in the award-winning musical Emilia Pérez.

Just weeks before the 2024 Academy Awards, a trove of Gascón's past social media posts surfaced, revealing a troubling pattern of racism, Islamophobia, sexism, and even transphobia (despite Gascón herself being transgender). The posts, which variously declared that "Islam is becoming a hotbed of infection for humanity," called the slain Black Lives Matter icon George Floyd a "drug-addicted con artist," and referred to Gomez as a "rich rat," shocked Gascón's newfound legion of fans and admirers.

Gascón quickly issued an apology, acknowledging that "as someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain." However, the damage was done, and the scandal likely contributed to Emilia Pérez's disappointing performance at the Oscars, where it only won two trophies despite receiving 13 nominations.

Meanwhile, Gomez, who played Emilia's estranged wife in the film, never directly commented on the Gascón revelation. But she did share before the Oscars that "some of the magic" generated by the film "has disappeared." Gomez went on to marry producer Benny Blanco in September 2025, in a ceremony attended by several of her celebrity friends, though Gascón was notably absent, citing work commitments.