Youn Yuh-jung Oscar Win Controversy: Transgender Actor Apologizes Late After Nomination

Denies Some Derogatory Remarks
"I Cannot Withdraw from the Oscar Nomination"

Spanish actress Carla Sofia Gascon (52), nominated for Best Actress at this year's Academy Awards (Oscars) for the film 'Emilia Perez,' bowed her head regarding past remarks that belittled actress Youn Yuh-jung's Oscar win.

In an interview with CNN released on the 2nd (local time), Gascon apologized sincerely to "everyone who may have felt offended" over the controversy sparked by her past social media posts being called out as racist.

Movie 'Emilia Perez' actress Carla Sofia Gascon. Photo by AFP, Yonhap News.

Gascon continued, "I have not committed any crime nor harmed anyone, so I cannot withdraw from the Oscar nomination," and explained, "I am not a racist, nor have I ever tried to make others believe that I am."

The controversy surrounding Gascon spread recently when freelance journalist Sarah Haji captured and shared Gascon's past posts on Twitter (now X) on X.

In a post from 2021, Gascon criticized the Oscars, saying it was becoming like an independent film awards ceremony. She said, "I don't know if I'm watching an Africa-Korea festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration, or a March 8 Women's Day rally."

At that Oscars ceremony, Youn Yuh-jung won Best Supporting Actress for 'Minari.' Also, Black actor Daniel Kaluuya won Best Supporting Actor for 'Judas and the Black Messiah,' which is interpreted as being criticized by Gascon.

Gascon also wrote in 2020 about the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died due to violence by a white police officer in the U.S., saying, "I believe hardly anyone cares about George Floyd, a drug addict and con artist." However, in the CNN interview, Gascon said she "does not remember" some parts of the posts that recently caused controversy.

In particular, regarding some reports that she posted derogatory remarks about fellow actress Selena Gomez, who co-starred in 'Emilia Perez,' Gascon denied, saying, "I did not write that."

Gascon was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars ceremony on March 2 as the lead actress in the Netflix film 'Emilia Perez,' directed by French director Jacques Audiard. The film tells the story of a Mexican drug cartel leader who is reborn as a woman in secret to start a second chapter of life while evading law enforcement.

Gascon is a real transgender woman. She is the first transgender actor in Academy history to be nominated for Best Actress. She previously won the Best Actress award jointly at last year's Cannes International Film Festival along with co-stars Adriana Paz, Selena Gomez, and Zoe Saldana for this film.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.