JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The Academy Awards are less than a month away, and one film leads the nomination count this year - "Emilia Pérez," with 13 nods, including actress in a leading role for Karla Sofia Gascon. The movie itself has already prompted critiques about its portrayals of Mexico and the trans experience, but the star Spanish actress has faced backlash for entirely different reasons over the past week. Miguel Macias reports from Seville.
MIGUEL MACIAS, BYLINE: Karla Sofia Gascon is the first openly trans actress to be nominated for an Academy Award. She is from Spain, so many here celebrated the news.
ROBERTO ENRIQUEZ: From the members of the LGBTQ+ collective, we found that Karla Sofia is someone who has arrived at a very, very difficult place for someone like her.
MACIAS: That is Roberto Enriquez, also known as Bob Pop, a Spanish influencer and writer. He says Gascon's nomination was a moment of pride for the LGBTQ+ community in Spain.
ENRIQUEZ: But suddenly, the tweets appear.
MACIAS: Last week, a number of Gascon's old tweets resurfaced. Gascon used slurs and offensive language against Muslim people, Chinese people and George Floyd, among others. Just to cite a couple, quote, "how many times will history have to expel the Moors from Spain?" unquote. Or, referring to COVID vaccines, Gascon said, quote, "the Chinese vaccine comes with a mandatory microchip and two spring rolls," unquote.
Gascon apologized for the tweets and said that she was deeply sorry for hurting people. The controversy could have ended there, but it didn't.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KARLA SOFIA GASCON: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: That is audio from an interview with CNN where Gascon says, "I've been judged, I've been sentenced, sacrificed, crucified and stoned without a fair hearing, without the chance to defend myself." Gascon has been on the defensive for the past week, sometimes lashing out at critics.
ELVIRA LINDO: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: That is Elvira Lindo, a Spanish writer. She says that the reaction in Spain initially was astonishment, but while in the United States a star can fall overnight if they do something wrong, in Spain, things are different.
LINDO: (Through interpreter) Spain has been more tolerant or more open to forgiveness.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED TV ANCHOR: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED TV ANCHOR: (Speaking Spanish).
MACIAS: That is audio from an afternoon La Sexta television show where the anchor says sarcastically, what's the plan here? Send her to Guantanamo? But the damage for Gascon's Oscar prospects has most likely been done. This week, The Hollywood Reporter said that Netflix dropped its Oscars campaign for the actress. NPR reached out to Netflix but has not heard back.
LINDO: (Through interpreter) Nobody deserves this kind of harsh punishment on an international level.
MACIAS: That's Elvira Lindo again. She says one thing that many in Spain agree on is that Gascon's tweets appear to show her political leanings.
LINDO: (Through interpreter) These messages show us a character that is reactionary and ideologically close to the political right in Spain today.
MACIAS: Some right-leaning opinion makers did come out in support of Gascon, accusing the left of giving her a pass just because they were afraid of criticizing a trans woman. Bob Pop says that Gascon might not be aware how her messages can be used by some as weapons.
ENRIQUEZ: Weapons for the people who think that she has no right to be herself as a trans woman.
MACIAS: Bob Pop says that the responses from all sides may tell us something about what we expect from celebrities.
ENRIQUEZ: Maybe we went too far when we adore Karla Sofia without knowing her. We are going too far when we create heroes or heroines, and we're going too far when we try to destroy them because they have disappointed us.
MACIAS: This morning, Gascon said on Instagram that she will not speak up any further and just let the movie speak for itself. The question remains, is Karla Sofia Gascon still a contender for the Academy Award? The actress certainly hopes so. Miguel Macias, NPR News, Seville, Spain.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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