What a whirlwind week it’s been—and it’s only Tuesday.
I’m Rebecca Ford and over here at Awards Insider, we, like much of the industry, are still reeling from the scandal centered on Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón. By now, you’ve likely heard about the horrible string of tweets from the actor that have recently resurfaced. They rightfully led to a severe backlash against the Spanish star, who made history as the first openly trans actress ever nominated for an Oscar.
But what remains fascinating now is how Gascón is dealing with the fallout. She made many apologies and shut down her X account. Then she decided to do an hour-long interview with CNN en Español, in which she explained that she has been “judged, condemned, sacrificed, crucified, and stoned without a trial and without the option to defend myself.” Gascón also revealed that she has no plans to “step down from an Oscar nomination, because I have not committed any crime, nor have I harmed anyone.”
It turns out that Gascón has stopped taking Netflix’s advice on what she should do when it comes to publicity; the streamer was not even aware she had booked the CNN interview. She’s gone rogue, posting multiple lengthy posts on her Instagram account. Today she wrote one stating that a nebulous “they” “want to apply ‘cancel culture’ to me.”
The question now is how Gascón’s words and actions will affect the film’s best-picture chances. Emilia Pérez was arguably the frontrunner for that award just a week ago—but as my colleague David Canfield says here, those hopes are now dimming.
So what can Netflix do to protect the film’s 12 other nominations? Their strategy will unfold over the course of several events in the next few days, including the AFI luncheon on Thursday, the Critics Choice Awards on Friday, and the DGA and PGA Awards on Saturday. Emilia Pérez is set to be honored at the AFI luncheon and is nominated at Critics Choice, and Awards Insider has confirmed that Gascón will not attend the events in Los Angeles with the rest of the cast and crew. Distancing themselves from this scandal is the best course of action—but we’ll have to wait and see if the ripple effect hits more than just Gascón.
No comments:
Post a Comment