Karla Sofía Gascón plans to attend Oscars despite social media controversy

Karla Sofía Gascón's awards season victory lap was derailed by a series of resurfaced social media posts. But the controversial "Emilia Pérez" star is set to make a comeback at Sunday's Academy Awards.

Gascón, who is up for best actress for her performance as the title character in Jacques Audiard's musical crime thriller, confirmed her Oscars attendance in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter published Monday.

"I'm not sure how I feel, but I'm grateful to be back," Gascón told the outlet. "I'm grateful to all those who've believed in me — to Netflix, the production company and my colleagues. We can close this beautiful and difficult path that began three years ago."

Gascón's attendance at the ceremony, which will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, will reportedly be financed by Netflix, according to Variety and CNN. According to previous reports, the streaming giant was allegedly reevaluating its awards season courtesies for Gascón, such as providing transportation and accommodations for events.

USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Gascón and Netflix for comment.

Gascón's scheduled Oscars appearance comes after the actress, who made history as the first openly transgender actress to receive a nomination, sparked online backlash with racist and xenophobic social media posts about Muslims, George Floyd and diversity at the Academy Awards.

The Spanish actress was notably absent from the Critics Choice Awards earlier this month, where she won the award for best song, as well as the Independent Spirit Awards and Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards. Her co-stars Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez were in attendance at the SAG Awards, however, and the actresses presented their film alone.

Karla Sofía Gascón's social media controversy explained

In late January, journalist Sarah Hagi shared screenshots of several of Gascón's previous posts on X, some of which date as recently as 2020, and they quickly gained steam —and backlash — from people on social media. Variety was first to report the news.

The offending posts ranged in subject from Gascón's view on the Muslim population in Spain, the series of 2020 U.S. demonstrations responding to George Floyd's murder at the hands of police and the 2021 Academy Awards ceremony, which she described as an "ugly gala."

"More and more the #Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films, I didn't know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M," Gascón wrote in one of the posts.

Gascón quickly apologized for the controversial posts, telling USA TODAY in a statement, "As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well, and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain."

In a follow-up statement on Feb. 1, issued via Instagram, Gascón maintained that she "is not a racist" and claimed her resurfaced comments were taken out of context. "I have always fought for a more just society and for a world of freedom, peace and love. I will never support wars, religious extremism or the oppression of races and peoples," she wrote in Spanish.

'I am not a racist': Karla Sofía Gascón apologizes for George Floyd, diversity at Oscars tweets

Netflix, 'Emilia Pérez' stars address Karla Sofía Gascón controversy

During a Feb. 12 episode of "The Town with Matthew Belloni" podcast, Netflix's chief content officer Bela Bajaria lamented the backlash brought on by Gascón's online controversy.

"It really has kind of taken the conversation in a different way (from) this incredible movie that Jacques Audiard — who is an incredible director — has made," Bajaria said. "It really is a bummer for a lot of the people, like (co-stars) Zoe (Saldaña) and Selena (Gomez). And our awards team did an incredible campaign for that movie."

Saldaña and Gomez also weighed in on the controversy. During a Jan. 31 Q&A in London, Saldaña said the resurfaced posts made her "really sad because I don't support (it), and I don't have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group."

Meanwhile, Gomez said during a Feb. 9 appearance at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival that "some of the magic has disappeared," but added that she lives "with no regrets... I would do this movie over and over again if I could."

"Emilia Pérez" director Audiard, who previously distanced himself from Gascón amid the controversy, gave the actress a shoutout when the movie was awarded best film not in the English language at the British Academy Film Awards on Feb. 16.

"I would like to thank all the wonderful artists who brought this film to life and who are here with us tonight: My dear Zoe (Saldaña), my dear Selena (Gomez) … But also you, my dear Karla Sofía, that I kiss. I'm deeply proud of what we have all achieved together. Long live 'Emilia Pérez,' " Audiard said.

Contributing: Pamela Avila, Anthony Robledo, Bryan Alexander, Patrick Ryan, Jay Stahl, KiMi Robinson and Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Karla Sofia Gascon to attend Oscars despite social media controversy