Karla Sofia Gascon, the Oscar-nominated trans actor and star of the movie "Emilia Perez,” is apologizing for her old posts on social media that denigrated Islam and called George Floyd "a drug addict and a hustler.”
"As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain,” the actor said in a statement via Netflix, where her film can be streamed. "All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”
Old posts from Gascon's account on Twitter resurfaced this week, some going as far back as 2016, that took aim at Muslims' dress, language and culture in her native Spain. She also suggested that Islam be banned.
And less than a month after George Floyd, a Black man, who was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer in 2020, prompting a national reckoning with police brutality and racism, Gascón offered her assessment of Floyd as a drug addict who "very few people ever cared” for.
Old tweets have come back to haunt celebrities before, include James Gunn, Trevor Noah and Blake Shelton. All have rebounded, with Gunn getting rehired to direct the third "Guardians of the Galaxy” film for Marvel and the upcoming "Superman” reboot; Noah is hosting this weekend's Grammy Awards and Shelton was for years a coach on NBC's "The Voice.”
