Netflix has finally addressed the controversy surrounding Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón after her past social media posts resurfaced, which caused major backlash. In a recent podcast interview, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Bela Bajaria, acknowledged the situation and shared her thoughts on how it has impacted the film’s success.
Netflix Responds to the Backlash Over Emilia Pérez star
During an episode of The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast, Bajaria spoke about the controversy and expressed disappointment that it had overshadowed the work of the many people involved in the movie.
“I think it’s really a bummer for the 100 incredibly talented people who made an amazing movie,” Bajaria said. “And if you look at the nominations, and all of this awards love that it’s received, I think it’s such a bummer that it distracted from that.”
The controversy began after Gascón’s past tweets, which included offensive comments about Muslims, Black people, and the Oscars’ diversity efforts, went viral. The tweets, some as recent as 2021, led to strong criticism, prompting Gascón to deactivate her account and issue a public apology.
Will Netflix Change Its Vetting Process?
The backlash has raised questions about whether Netflix will change how it evaluates actors before acquiring films. When asked about this, Bajaria admitted that checking social media history is not a standard practice in the industry.
“It’s not really common practice for people to vet social tweets that way,” she explained. “A lot of people are reevaluating that… I do think it is raising questions for a lot of people about reevaluating that process.”
She also highlighted the challenges of monitoring the social media activity of so many people involved in Netflix productions. However, she maintained that the streaming platform still stands by its decision to acquire Emilia Pérez despite the controversy.
“If you ask me today, everything I know, we would still buy the movie today. That movie is incredible and it’s creative and it’s bold — that’s what you want, and it resonated with a lot of people this year,” Bajaria said.
Emilia Pérez has received multiple nominations at the Academy Awards, including a historic nomination for Gascón as the first openly transgender actress to compete in the Best Actress category. The film, directed by Jacques Audiard, stars Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, who have also been actively promoting it. However, the controversy surrounding Gascón has undeniably affected the film’s Oscar campaign.
Saldaña recently addressed the issue, calling it “sad” and admitting that she is still processing everything. Meanwhile, Selena Gomez also recently stated at an event that she remains proud of the movie and would work on it again if given the chance.
Despite the ongoing debate, Netflix continues to push Emilia Pérez forward, hoping that the film’s artistic achievements will not be overshadowed by past mistakes.
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