Emilia Perez director gives Karla Sofia Gascon Baftas shoutout after controversial absence

Karla Sofía Gascón may be absent from this year’s Baftas, but Emilia Pérez was still the talk of the ceremony. The Netflix musical/thriller was nominated for 11 awards at the prestigious 2025 ceremony, with the likes of Wicked, Dune: Part Two, The Brutalist, Anora, and A Complete Unknown also up for top prizes. However, the success of the film has been marred by controversy. Gascón, 52, made history as the first out trans person to be nominated for an Academy Award in the best actress category this year, but a shadow was quickly cast over the moment when her former comments were exposed.

She has since faced intense scrutiny, with the most recent remark dating back to 2022. On X, she targeted Muslims, the death of George Floyd, Oscar diversity, and even her co-star, Selena Gomez. As a result, she skipped the Baftas ceremony, while other members of the cast, plus director Jacques Audiard, put in appearances instead. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video.

Up Next. Joining him was Zoe Saldana, who won the supporting actress award presented by Sing Sing star Colman Domingo and A Different Man actor Adam Pearson. Saldana, who won in the same category at the Golden Globes, said the win was ‘so validating’ and ‘a true honour’. She added: ‘This was a creative challenge of a lifetime; how do you begin to even approach a film that just defies categorisation, and you start by taking the lead of (director) Jacques Audiard.’.

In an explicit speech, she then swore after saying she was being given a countdown to wrap things up. Saldana, 46, was quickly pulled off camera as she shouted ‘f**k, f**k, f**k’ when the timer rushed her along. ‘Films are supposed to change hearts and challenge minds, and I hope Emilia Perez did something like this because voices need to be heard, just not my English accent,’ she concluded. In a press conference after the win, Saldana told Metro and other press why she thinks this film has resonated with herself, critics and audiences, saying it ‘breaks the conventional norms of whatever manual we give ourselves into doing something.

She continued: ‘We always want to believe that we have to follow everything in order for a story to have some kind of linear and formulaic sort of structure, and sometimes breaking all that mould and defying categorization, a story is able to live freely in that—and Jacques did just that.’. After securing two wins at the Baftas, and several nominations at the Oscars, the screen star reflected on how her career has developed.

‘I feel following your heart can never be wrong. If your heart is always in a good place, if you believe in what you do and you believe in your values, then follow it because then you will always stand by that, and that can never be judged as right or wrong,’ she reflected. Then added it’s ‘important for women to reconnect with [their] inner voice.’. Accepting Emilia Pérez’s first gong of the night, French filmmaker Audiard took to the stage to collect best film not in the English language.

Accepting the prize, he said he was ‘touched’, adding that the award ‘was for everyone who worked tirelessly on this film’. He also paid tribute to his fellow nominees from Ireland’s Kneecap and Brazil’s I’m Not There. Audiard added that ‘he would like to thank the wonderful talents’, and also named his ‘dear Zoe (Saldana) and Selena’. He went on to name Spanish actress Gascon, whom he also called ‘dear’.

Reflecting on working with Jacques, the Avatar star had only kind words in the press conference, calling the filmmaker an ‘incredibly sensitive person’. She continued: ‘Socially he’s very shy, which is why he may come off as someone that his jokes may go over so many people’s heads. But in reality, his heart is always in the right place, and his heart is always in the best place, and he’s not defied by the gravity of language or cinematic structure and how to tell a story.

‘He breaks all those moulds so that he can connect through stories with other people, and that’s what I love the most about him.’. Elsewhere in the ceremony, Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor for A Real Pain. And US actresses Gomez and Saldana presented the outstanding debut by a British writer, director, and producer to Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt. The presentation didn’t go without a hitch, though, as Gomez appeared to stumble, pausing for a moment, before announcing the winner.

Taking to the mic, Peppiatt recalled ‘it’s funny how life works’ as he accepted the award, recalling how he met his wife and then moved to Belfast, which was where he met Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap. He added that Kneecap was a ‘movement’, and ‘everyone should have their language respected, their culture respected’, following his making of the Irish language movie. Gascon’s resurfaced tweets are not the only controversy surrounding Emilia Perez following its release.