‘Emilia Pérez’ director thanks “my dear” Karla Sofía Gascón in BAFTAs speech despite racist tweets scandal

nme.com:

Emilia Pérez, has thanked “my dear” Karla Sofía Gascón during his BAFTAs acceptance speech, despite her racist tweets scandal.The French filmmaker was accepting the award for Best Film Not In The English Language at the ceremony in London on Sunday night (February 16).

The Spanish-language musical tells the story of a transgender Mexican cartel leader (Gascón) who enlists a lawyer (Zoe Saldaña, who won Best Supporting Actress at the awards) to help her disappear.Last month, a series of offensive posts from Gascón’s social media accounts resurfaced, expressing hateful views regarding Muslims, the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the Oscars.

She has since apologised for the comments and denied that she is racist.She had become the first transgender woman to receive an Oscar nomination and was also nominated for Best Actress at the BAFTAs, although she was notably absent from the ceremony on Sunday night.When Audiard took to the stage at the Royal Festival Hall to accept the prize, he went out of his way to personally thank many of the cast and crew of the film, with the notable inclusion of Gascón.“Above all, I would like to thank all the wonderful artists who brought this film to life and who are here with us tonight,” he said (via Variety). “My dear Zoe, my dear Selena, Giorgini, Paul, Juliet, Camille, Clement, Julia and your team, but also you, my dear Karla Sofia, that I kiss.

I’m deeply proud of what we achieved together. Long live ‘Emilia Pérez’!”Voting for the awards was open to BAFTA members between early January and February 11, meaning that voters may have cast their ballots before the controversy arose in recent weeks.Saldaña has spoken about the scandal herself, saying she was “still processing everything that.