1. Karla Sofía Gascón, best actress for Emilia Pérez
The star of trans gangster musical Emilia Pérez had already collected some grief over the film’s portrayal of Mexico, where it was set but not shot, and whether or not it was a step forward for trans representation. Writer-director Jacques Audiard apologised and the controversy didn’t seem to massively hurt the film’s Oscar chances, as it led the 2025 field with 13 nominations including best actress for Gascón. However, a few days later, a journalist inspected Gascón’s social media feed and found a string of inflammatory posts, including one that described Islam as “a hotbed for infection for humanity that urgently need[s] to be cured”. Gascón has since been on a contrition tour, including a tearful, hour-long interview with CNN in which she declared: “My most sincere apologies to all the people who may have felt offended by the ways I express myself in my past, in my present and in my future”, but it looks like there’s no way back.
