“Emilia Pérez” director Jacques Audiard is addressing Karla Sofía Gascón’s stunning controversy — and he’s not blissful.
The French writer-director, 72, expressed his disappointment in his Oscar-nominated actress after a number of of her social media posts resurfaced, through which Gascón criticized Muslim tradition, George Floyd and even known as her “Emilia Pérez” co-star Selena Gomez a “rich rat” earlier than being solid along with her.
In response to Audiard, her actions are “inexcusable.”
“It’s very hard for me to think back to the work I did with Karla Sofía,” Audiard advised Deadline on Wednesday of constructing the flick nominated for Finest Image at this yr’s Academy Awards.
The musical thriller follows a Mexican cartel chief (Gascón) who transitions into a girl. It incorporates a star-studded solid, which additionally contains Zoe Saldana (nominated for Finest Actress in a Supporting Function), Édgar Ramírez, Gomez and extra.
Gascón’s nomination made her the primary brazenly transgender performer to be nominated for an Oscar.
Audiard defined that the “exceptional atmosphere” that they had on set “was indeed based on trust.”
He continued, “And when you have that kind of relationship and suddenly you read something that that person has said, things that are absolutely hateful and worthy of being hated, of course that relationship is affected. It’s as if you fall into a hole.”
The director revealed, “I haven’t spoken to her, and I don’t want to.”
Audiard shared that “she is in a self-destructive approach,” and he “can’t interfere.”
“I really don’t understand why she’s continuing. Why is she harming herself? … She’s talking about herself as a victim, which is surprising. It’s as if she thought that words don’t hurt,” he mentioned.
Audiard additionally added that Gascón is “harming people who were very close to her,” together with the “Emilia Pérez” solid and crew. “I’m not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions.”
Gascón, 52, issued an apology and deactivated her X (previously Twitter) account after catching backlash over her previous tweets.
Sharing she had “nothing to hide,” the Spanish actress requested how she ought to “move forward” from the controversy this award season.
Gascón and the film are up for a number of awards, together with the Critics Selection (February 7), BAFTA (February 16) and Oscars (March 2).
The actress doubled down throughout an emotional interview with CNN on February 2, denying the claims of racism and standing ten toes down on her Academy Award nomination.
“I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination because I have not committed any crime, nor have I harmed anyone,” she mentioned, per CNN. “I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am.”
Addressing how Gascón’s controversy is upstaging the film’s success, Audiard shared that it’s “very unfortunately, it is taking up all the space,” including it “makes me very sad.”
