Bafta outrage as Emilia Perez bags coveted award amid Karla Sofia Gascon ‘racist’ tweets row: ‘Should be ASHAMED!’
Film fans were left furious on Sunday evening when it was announced Netflix musical number Emilia Perez had bagged Best Film Not in the English Language at this year’s Baftas.
The film, which has bagged nominations aplenty across the globe this awards season, has faced boycott calls after its leading star’s historic tweets caused controversy.
Karla Sofia Gascon, the trans actress who plays the titular character in Jacques Audiard’s flick, has faced cancellation calls after “racist”, “Islamophobic”, and “body-shaming” tweets were unearthed following the film’s release.
Gascon was also accused of publishing tweets negatively targeting her Emilia Perez co-star Selena Gomez, calling her a “rat” years before they worked together on the musical.
The actress has since declared she is not racist, has issued a number of statements and taken part in a series of tearful TV interviews in which she’s suggested the uproar was part of a campaign to cancel her.
Gascon wasn’t in attendance at Sunday’s ceremony in London to witness Emilia Perez see off the likes of All We Imagine as Light, Kneecap, I’m Still Here, and The Seed of the Sacred Fig in the category.
The film received a round of applause when it was announced to have won and director Audiard decided to pay homage to Gascon despite the ongoing controversy.
Speaking through an interpreter Audiard thanked “my dear Zoe [Saldaña], my dear Selena [Gomez]… and also you my dear Karla Sofía, to whom I send a kiss.”
He added the award was “too nice” and an “immense honour.”
Despite the nod from Audiard and the ovation in the Bafta audience, fans seeing the news from home were left less than impressed with the accolade.
Taking to X to react to the win, one user fumed: “Unbelievable that Emilia Perez won best film in a language other than English. It’s not because of the hate, it’s because the film is rotten…#EEBAFTAs.”
“Booo! Should belong to Kneecap,” a second hit out before a third blasted: “EMILIA PEREZ? What a SHAMEFUL award, huh @BAFTA? #EEBAFTAs.”
A fourth weighed in: “I don’t understand how Emília Perez wins so many awards with such a horrible film, I can’t get my head around it #EEBAFTAs.”
Elsewhere, a fifth echoed: “It is important to emphasize that the BAFTA voting took place amidst the controversies involving Karla Sofia Gascón and ‘Emilia Pérez’. In other words, it is impossible to measure the effect this had on the awards. But… As I have said, this film is TERRIBLE! It is unacceptable, with or without controversy.”
And another pulled no punches as they wrote: “Daily reminder that emilia perez is a spanish musical directed by a french director who doesn’t speak spanish and hates musicals, starring a racist woman who hates minorities.
“@BAFTA you should be ASHAMED of yourselves for awarding such trash!” (sic)
Audiard’s mention of Gascon may have come as a surprise after the French filmmaker had publicly distanced himself from the Emilia Perez star ahead of the Baftas.
When asked about Gascon’s reaction in the fallout of the saga, he told Deadline: “I haven’t spoken to her, and I don’t want to. She is in a self-destructive approach that I can’t interfere in, and I really don’t understand why she’s continuing.
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“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.
“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.
“I’m not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions. Absolutely not. She’s really playing the victim.
“She’s talking about herself as a victim, which is surprising. It’s as if she thought that words don’t hurt.”