“Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón hasn’t attended many awards shows ever since racist tweets she made in the past resurfaced.
But that changes on Sunday because Gascón is expected to attend the Oscars in Los Angeles where she is the first openly trans woman to be nominated in the Best Actress category.
Sources close to Gascón confirmed to People that she is flying in from Spain so she can attend Sunday’s event, but it is still unclear whether she will walk the red carpet, or sit with co-stars like Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez.
Gascón told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday that she’s still processing everything surrounding the awards.
“I’m not sure how I feel, but I’m grateful to be back,” Gascón said. “I’m grateful to all those who’ve believed in me — to Netflix, the production company and my colleagues. We can close this beautiful and difficult path that began three years ago.”
Gascón has avoided other awards shows after tweets resurfaced where she attacked Muslims, George Floyd and defended Adolf Hitler.
In fact, during Sunday night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, she was barely seen in a segment highlighting “Emilia Pérez” ― even though she plays the title character.
After Gascón’s tweet scandal broke, she initially responded by apologizing for the tweets, but later claimed that she’s been “condemned without a trial” and that her critics “have already won” in tarnishing her.
She later told CNN that she would not “step down from an Oscar nomination because I have not committed any crime nor have I harmed anyone.”
Saldaña admitted feeling “sad” by Gascón’s posts and told a panel in London it “makes me really sad because I don’t support and don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric toward people of any group.”
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Selena Gomez, who was also in the film, said at an event that “some of the magic” surrounding the film “has disappeared,” but insisted she chooses “to continue to be proud of what I’ve done and I’m just grateful.”
The film’s director, Jacques Audiard, who cowrote the Oscar-nominated musical, also spoke out, calling Gascón’s tweets “inexcusable” and admitted that “unfortunately” they were getting all the media attention.
The Oscars air Sunday night on ABC.