"Emilia Pérez" actress Karla Sofía Gascón says she has been going through an "emotional rollercoaster" after some of her past offensive social media posts resurfaced last week.
Gascón, who is up for best actress at the 2025 Oscars for her role in the Jacques Audiard-directed film, took to Instagram Tuesday to share a message about the controversy.
"For years, I gave myself body and soul to The Emilia Pérez Family," she wrote in her native Spanish. "As I always do with everything I love and believe in."
'Emilia Pérez' actress Karla Sofía Gascón apologizes for past offensive social media posts
She then thanked the team behind "Emilia Pérez," her supporters and the awards shows she is nominated at. She continued her message, writing, "In these last days, I went through an emotional roller coaster. I have been transparent because I have nothing to hide."
Gascón, who is the first openly trans actor to earn an Oscar nomination, seemingly addressed comments that she made on X, formerly Twitter, which contain Islamophobic, racist and otherwise offensive remarks in a wide range of topics: "At some moment, I felt lost in my transition, seeking approval in the eyes of others. But today I finally know who I am."
She continued, "I only seek the freedom to exist without fear, to create art without barriers, and to move forward with my new life."
At the end of her message, Gascón wrote, "They want to subject me to 'cancel culture.' I am asking Hollywood experts, and to journalists who know me and know my trajectory. How to move forward?"
Gascón comments, which were screenshots taken from Gascón's now deactivated X account by writer Sarah Hagi and published on X, took aim at a variety of topics, including Oscar's diversity, China's involvement in the coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 death of George Floyd.
In posts about Floyd, Gascón denigrated him and said Floyd was someone "very few people ever cared about." Posting about the 2021 Oscars, Gascón likened it to "an Afro-Korean festival" and called it "an ugly, ugly gala."
Following the resurfaced comments, Gascón shared a statement with Variety apologizing "to those I have caused pain."
"All my life I have fought for a better world," she added. "I believe light will always triumph over darkness."
In a recent interview with CNN, Gascón said she will not renounce her Oscar nomination amid the controversy because she has "not committed any crime."
'Emilia Pérez' star Karla Sofía Gascón becomes 1st openly trans actor to snag Oscar nomination"I cannot renounce a nomination because what I have done is work and what is being valued is my acting work," she said. "I also cannot renounce a nomination because I have not committed any crime, nor harmed anyone, nor am I racist, nor am I any of the things that all these people have tried to make others believe I am."
"I have no reason to renounce because anyone who wants to set me aside because they think that way, I only ask them to be truthful, justly and absolutely prove that I have written something with the intent to harm or that it has a meaning because I am the way they are saying," she added. "Because if that is not the case, and the world we live in is going to be very difficult to recover."
"Emilia Pérez" is nominated for 13 Oscars this year, including best picture.
"Good Morning America" has reached out to Gascón, Netflix and the Academy for comment and has not yet received a response.
