Conan O’Brien ROASTS Karla Sofia Gascon to her face in awkward joke about tweet scandal

Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofia Gascon looked awkward as she was pictured in the crowd Sunday at the 97th Academy Awards, while host Conan O’Brien fired off a few jokes about her tweet scandal.

Gascón, 52, appeared to be uncomfortable in her seat in the event, which stemmed from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, as O’Brien rattled off a series of remarks about the controversy she was involved in after unsavory old tweets resurfaced.

Gascón found herself in the crosshairs of controversy shortly after making history as the first openly-transgender actress nominated in the Best Actress category for her portrayal of Emilia Pérez’s titular character.

She landed in hot water amid resurfaced shock social media posts from the actress that garnered controversy amid allegations of racism, homophobia and body shaming, among other unpleasantries.

O’Brien joked that Best picture nominee Anora used ‘the f-word 479 times,’ adding ‘that’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist!’ 

The host joked as the camera panned on the actress, who did not appear to be amused, adding, ‘Karla, if you are gonna tweet about the Oscars my name is Jimmy Kimmel.’  

In the Best Actress category, Gascon was nominated against The Substance’s Demi Moore; Anora’s Mikey Madison; I’m Still Here’s Fernanda Torres; and Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo.

Social media was buzzing February 3 after over Netflix’s purported removal of transgender actress Karla Sofia Gascón from promotional materials for its Oscar-nominated film Emilia Pérez, a month ahead of the 97th Academy Awards.

A number of users across platforms such as X/Twitter and Reddit said that it was clear the streamer was looking to minimize the presence of Gascón in their Oscar campaigning for the movie.

The change in direction came amid resurfaced social media posts from the actress that garnered controversy amid allegations of racism, homophobia and body shaming, among other unpleasantries. 

Gascón, 52, received a Best Actress nomination for her portrayal of the film’s titular character, making history as the first openly-transgender actress nominated in the category.

Promotional materials for ‘For Your Awards Consideration’ (FYC) appeared focused on Best Supporting Actress nominee Zoe Saldaña, 46, as she was the centerpiece of both the poster circulating online; and an Netflix FYC page, which showcased a close up of the star’s face.

Saldaña received her first career Oscar nod played the role of Rita in the Spanish language film, and appears the heavy favorite to capture the prize.

On X, a number of prominent film-related accounts commented on Gascón being absent from a promotional poster the streamer purportedly released touting the movie’s 13 Academy Award nominations, but omitting Gascón’s name and image.

‘Karla Sofía Gascón has been completely erased from the latest Oscars ‘For Your Consideration’ ad for Emilia Pérez. I wonder why!??’ a tweet from @jasonosia read, linking to the poster.

The account run by Sam Herbst at the handle @smhrbst posted a link to the poster, adding, ‘New Netflix FYC poster for Emilia Perez without Karla on it oh it’s OVER lmaooo.’

A number of commenters took the streaming service to task over omitting Gascón in spite of her recent controversies.

‘Emilia Perez is about a woman but don’t worry about her,’ Herbst commented.

Film critic Guy Lodge noted of the new promotional materials: ‘The irony of this campaign literally erasing its trans lead.’

Another user noted how the streaming service even left Gascón’s nomination out of the poster, instead promoting Best Original Song nominee El Mal instead of Gascón’s historic honor: ‘I assumed this was simply about omitting her from the photos, but they’ve even left the lead acting nomination unmentioned up here! Oh my.’

A Reddit user noted, ‘They’re advertising original song on the top over her.’ 

Said another user of the poster: ‘It doesn’t even include the title of the film lmfao.’ 

Another X/Twitter user referenced Gascón’s social media controversy, saying of Netflix’s tack: ‘Clearly they don’t want her mess to affect the film, her pic on the poster would bring up on everyone’s memory every disgusting post she made.’

The film site World of Reel noted that the streamer was ‘attempting to steer its $30M+ Oscar campaign for Emilia Perez in the right direction, and this means, quite wisely, ignoring that its controversial star Karla Sofia Gascón was even in the movie.’

The site said that ‘Netflix has basically thrown in the towel’ in pushing Gascón as a viable Oscar contender.

One user said Netflix’s handling of the Gascón issue could jeopardize Saldaña’s quest for Oscar gold.

‘I was initially thinking that the scandal would not sink Zoe Saldaña’s chances at supporting actress… but the campaign’s new angle is just so not effective that I could see her losing the Oscar as well,’ the user said.

Other users were more supportive of Netflix’s strategic decision to promote Saldaña over Gascón, saying that Saldaña’s workload in the film amounted to that of a lead actress, regardless of the film’s title.

‘Finally recognising the lead of the film,’ one user said, while another said, ‘Arguably Zoe is the lead of this wretched movie anyway …’

Said one user: ‘So, the supposed title character has been completely (and understandably) scrubbed from promotional for the supposed supporting character who’s the actual lead in the film. 

‘Saldana should’ve been submitted in the lead actress category in the first place because she’s the lead.’

In the Best Supporting Actress category, Saldaña appears the heavy favorite to capture the honors over fellow nominees including Wicked’s Ariana Grande; The Brutalist’s Felicity Jones; Conclave’s Isabella Rossellini; and A Complete Unknown’s Monica Barbaro.

Emilia Perez, directed by Jacques Audiard, led the way with 13 nominations when this year’s Oscar nominees were announced in Beverly Hills on January 23.

Other key nominations the film received included Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Achievement in Directing for Audiard.

Conan O’Brien, 61, is making his debut as Oscars host, after joking: ‘I only agreed to host so that I could get invited.’

This year’s ceremony has an unusually unsettled field in many of the most high-profile categories, including best picture and most of the acting categories.

Emilia Pérez leads the nominations this year with 13, including for best picture, actress (for Karla Sofía Gascón), supporting actress (for Zoe Saldaña), director (for Jacques Audiard), adapted screenplay and original song.

Gascón stars as the title character, a former Mexican drug lord who comes out as a transgender woman and fakes her own death in order to reinvent herself as a pro-social force, while Saldaña plays an ethically challenged lawyer who helps set up her new identity.

The Brutalist landed in second place with 10 nominations, including for best picture, director (for Brady Corbet), actor (for Adrien Brody), supporting actor (for Guy Pearce), supporting actress (for Felicity Jones), and original screenplay.

Brody stars as a Jewish Hungarian architect who immigrates to the US after surviving the Holocaust. The epic historical drama follows his character László Tóth’s attempts to realize his creative vision even as it conflicts with the petty desires of his wealthy benefactor (Pearce).

Wicked tied it for 10 nominations, including for best picture, actress (for Cynthia Erivo), and supporting actress (for Ariana Grande).

The blockbuster musical is an adaptation of only the first half of the musical of the same name, a reimagined prequel to The Wizard Of Oz starring Erivo as Elphaba, future Wicked Witch of the West, and Grande as Galinda Upland, who becomes Glinda the Good 

Other best pictures nominees include Anora, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys and The Substance. 

The closely watched race for best actor in a leading role got a major shakeup just a week before the Oscars at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, when Timothée Chalamet scored a shock win for his Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. 

Prior to that win, Brody was seemingly the favorite after winning best actor awards at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Movie Awards.

Ralph Fiennes has also doggedly stayed in the running for his role as a British Cardinal struggling to keep a secretive papal election from dissolving into competition and intrigue. 

The critically acclaimed film has scored multiple actor wins at smaller ceremonies and festivals for Fiennes, as well as multiple awards for the entire acting ensemble, which Fiennes has accepted on more than one occasion. 

Those three co-frontrunners are competing against Colman Domingo for Sing Sing and Sebastian Stan for his performance as a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice.

The best actress category also has no clear frontrunner. Demi Moore has been lauded for her comeback performance in the satirical body-horror film The Substance, which earned her best actress honors from the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, as well as several critics’ organizations. 

But her win a week before the Oscars at the SAG Awards suggests she may be in a prime spot to snatch the Oscar after being nominated for the first time. 

Anora star Mikey Madison, who plays an adult dancer who impetuously marries the son of a Russian Oligarch, was widely acclaimed and was honored by several critics’ organizations early in the season. 

Her chances increased significantly after she won the BAFTA for best lead actress, which she followed up with an Independent Spirit Award win in the gender-neutral lead performance category. 

Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón was once a favorite for the award, but she was widely criticized after racist and Islamophobic tweets — some quite recent — that had somehow gone unremarked upon were translated into English and reported on.

Since then, Gascón has sat out awards ceremonies after her posts came to light. After multiple half-hearted apologies, Netflix reportedly opted to stop paying for Gascón’s travel and accommodations for awards shows, though a source told People that she still plans to attend the Oscars.

Before the controversy, her nomination was seen as historic, as she is the first openly transgender woman to be nominated in the best actress category. 

The other nominees are Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, who has failed to capture any major awards, and the Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, who stars in the historical drama I’m Still Here. She had her own controversy after a clip of her appearing in blackface in a comedy sketch from a Brazilian TV series 17 years ago resurfaced in January.

In the supporting actress category, the nominees including Monica Barbaro for A Complete Unknown, Ariana Grande for Wicked, Felicity Jones for The Brutalist, Isabella Rossellini for Conclave and Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez 

Saldaña appears to be the current favorite after a string of wins at the Golden Globes, BAFTA Awards, SAG Awards and Critics Choice Awards.

But some of those early awards had voting periods that cut off prior to the controversy around Gascón surfacing, which could potentially harm her chances from voters who were turned off of Emilia Pérez altogether.

The supporting actor category seems the easiest to predict, Kieran Culkin’s string of wins for A Real Pain making him the favorite. 

The other nominees include Yura Borisov for Anora, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown, Guy Pearce for The Brutalist and Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice. 

Among the best picture nominees, Emilia Pérez once seemed like the most likely winner, but Gascon’s offensive posts have threatened its chances.

The Palme d’Or–winning Anora got a late boost with wins for best picture at the Directors Guild of America Awards and the Producers Guild of America Awards, which are considered two of the best predictors of Oscars success by awards-season prognosticators, and its win at the Independent Spirit Awards didn’t hurt.

The best director category seems likely to be a three-man race between Anora’s Sean Baker, The Brutalist director Brady Corbet and Emilia Pérez’s Jacques Audiard. 

This year’s original song category features two cutes from Emilia Pérez, El Mal and Mi Camino, the new Elton John song Never Too Late, from the documentary of the same name about him, Like a Bird from Sing Sing, and the latest Diane Warren effort The Journey.

The Academy Awards begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT and can be watched on ABC and, for the first time, on a streaming service, Hulu.

Subscribers to premium services including Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV and FuboTV can also also catch the ceremony live.