Karla Sofía Gascón Takes Back Claim That Fernanda Torres’ Team Speaks ‘Badly’ About Her
Karla Sofía Gascón is catching fire online after claiming that the team behind her fellow Oscar nominee Fernanda Torres has been speaking “badly” about her online.
The Emilia Pérez actress made the accusation against Torres’ team on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, she took back her comment by saying she was referring to “violent hate speech” she has generally received online. A source also told Rolling Stone Wednesday that Gascón’s claims in the interview do not constitute a rules violation since she did not “disparage” the I’m Still Here nominee.
“I don’t like that there’s a social media team that works around these people that are attempting to discredit my work and my film, because that doesn’t take us anywhere,” Gascón said in an interview with Brazil’s Folha de São Paulo. “You will never see me talking negatively about Fernanda Torres or her film, but on the contrary, I do see many people working around Fernanda Torres who talk badly about me, and Emilia Pérez.”
In a statement to Rolling Stone Wednesday, Gascón, the first openly trans person nominated for an acting Oscar, walked back the comment, calling Torres a “wonderful ally” and adding that she was “an enormous fan” of the Brazilian star.
“In my recent comments, I was referencing the toxicity and violent hate speech on social media that I sadly continue to experience,” she said. “No one directly associated with her has been anything but supportive and hugely generous.”
Some users online circulated Gascón’s interview clip Wednesday afternoon, claiming that Gascón had violated the Academy Awards‘ rules, which state that public communication “by anyone directly associated with an eligible film attempting to cast a negative or derogatory light on a competing film or achievement will not be tolerated.”
The source told Rolling Stone Wednesday that the Academy reviewed the interview transcript and found that “there is no campaign promotional regulation violation” in Gascón’s statement since nothing disparaging was said about the film, nominee or performance.”
Many fans of Torres expressed their confusion with Gascón’s messaging, given less than a week before, Torres shared a sweet story about Gascón introducing her at a party after she felt like a “fish out of water.” “Let’s not mistreat each other… I am forever grateful to Gascón. She’s wonderful in Emilia Pérez,” she said in a video over the weekend.
A rep for Torres did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
Gascón and Torres are nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars alongside The Substance‘s Demi Moore, Anora’s Mikey Madison, and Wicked‘s Cynthia Erivo.
The conversation surrounding the two actresses comes after Gascón’s film Emilia Pérez has faced heavy criticism for being an inauthentic portrayal of Mexican culture and trans experience. Gascón, who’s from Spain, plays the titular role of a pre-transition transgender Mexican cartel leader named Manitas.
Online critics have pointed out that French director Jacques Audiard does not speak Spanish, did not film the musical in Mexico, nor did he include Mexican-born actresses for any of its three main roles.
