Karla Sofía Gascón Posts Lengthy Apology, Defends Tweets “That Without Background Only Appear Hateful”: “I Am Not Racist”

deadline.com:

In a lengthy Instagram post shared earlier today, Karla Sofía Gascón has reiterated an apology for her past bigoted tweets — which included remarks containing Islamophobia, anti-Black rhetoric and derogatory references to George Floyd’s murder, as well as disparaging comments about co-star Selena Gomez — while simultaneously defending her posts as taken out of context.

Gascón also declares that she is “not racist” and has a Muslim loved one and seems to imply that the controversy is a smear campaign for her to not “win anything and sink.” The Emilia Pérez star and newly minted Oscar nominee began the post, titled “How it happened with Emilia Peréz: Everyone can change for the better, including me,” with a declaration that “They already won.” “What I would like to do first is offer my sincerest apologies to those who have felt harmed for my way of expressing myself at any stage of my life,” the Spanish actress wrote. “I have a lot to learn in this world, this being my main flaw.

Life has taught me something I never wanted to learn: It is clear to me that no matter how much your message is one [thing], without using the correct words, it becomes another.” Gascón continued to say that she has gone from living a normal life to another, at the top of her profession, in just six months: “Now my responsibility is greater because my voice does not belong to only myself, but to many people that feel represented and hopeful with me.” (Gascón made history as the first openly trans woman to be nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award.) “I clung to Nichiren Buddhism to change my life, and the lives of those around me for the better, and I believe that’s what has happened.