Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard is speaking out on Karla Sofía Gascón‘s offensive posts amid the backlash that his lead actress has recently received.
In an interview with Deadline published Wednesday, Audiard condemned Gascón’s tweets, which contained Islamophobic, racist and other offensive remarks on a wide range of topics.
“It’s very hard for me to think back to the work I did with Karla Sofía,” Audiard began. “The trust we shared, the exceptional atmosphere that we had on the set that 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. Because what Karla Sofía said is inexcusable.”
Audiard said he hasn’t spoken to Gascón since her comments resurfaced.
“I don’t want to,” he said. “She is in a self-destructive approach that I can’t interfere in, and I really don’t understand why she’s continuing. Why is she harming herself? Why? I don’t understand it, and what I don’t understand about this too is why she’s harming people who were very close to her.”
“I’m thinking in this thing of how hurting others, of how she’s hurting the crew and all these people who worked so incredibly hard on this film,” he added. “I’m thinking of myself, I’m thinking of Zoe [Saldaña] and Selena [Gomez]. I just don’t understand why she’s continuing to harm us.”
Audiard continued, “I’m not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions.”
Emilia Pérez earned 13 Oscar nominations, including best picture. Audiard is nominated for best director for the film, as well as best adapted screenplay. Gascón is nominated for best actress. She is also the first openly trans actor to earn an Oscar nomination.
Good Morning America has reached out to a representative for Gascón, Audiard and Netflix.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
