Will controversial Netflix Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofia Gascón attend the Baftas?

Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón is not expected to attend the Baftas after a wave of controversy. The Spanish actress, 52, is nominated for leading actress at the annual awards ceremony for her performance in the Netflix musical but is not believed to be on the guest list. Earlier this year, she stepped back from promoting the film after previous social media posts she made about Islam, the death of George Floyd and diversity at the Oscars resurfaced.

Gascón has not attended any recent awards ceremonies the film has featured in, with the latest being Spain’s Goya Awards, despite becoming the first trans woman to be nominated for the best actress Oscar. After the tweets were brought to light, the star apologised and maintained that she had not been ‘racist’ in Instagram posts. Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard told Deadline the remarks were ‘absolutely hateful’ and said they made it ‘very hard’ for him to think back to his ‘exceptional’ time working with her.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. After his interview, Gascón announced she would ‘let the work talk for itself’ and said she was ‘hoping my silence will allow the film to be appreciated for what it is.’. Gascón’s co-stars Zoë Saldaña and Selena Gomez will attend the Baftas and will present awards at the ceremony hosted by Doctor Who star David Tennant.

Emilia Pérez is the second-most nominated movie at the Baftas, with 11 nods including a leading actress nomination for Gascón, while Gomez and Saldaña will go head to head in the supporting actress category. However, the 13-time Academy Award-nominated movie film itself has been dubbed by some viewers as ‘one of the worst films ever’ with concerns over its representation of Mexican culture and the trans community.

Among critics are LGBTQ+ organisation Glaad, which issued a statement on its website saying the film featured ‘a profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman’ and was ‘a step backward for trans representation.’. It also faced criticism from those in the Mexican film industry for focusing on the country’s drug problems and for its few cast members from the country. However, in an interview with US outlet Deadline, Audiard said he was ‘shocked’ by the backlash and claimed the movie’s critics either ‘haven’t seen the film properly or they haven’t seen it at all and are acting in bad faith.’.

Emilia Pérez sees Gascón’s character transition from man to woman in order to aid her disappearance after she had experienced gender dysphoria during her childhood. The film uses song, dance and bold visuals to tell its story, and features original songs written by French singer-songwriter Camille and composer Clement Ducol. Got a story?. If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.