Selena Gomez and her Emilia Perez co-star Karla Sofia Gascon went viral for their awkward exchange at the Oscars – after the latter’s tweet scandal.
Karla, who hails from Spain, is nominated for best actress for her performance as a cartel chief who pretends to die in order to transition into a woman.
Her nod made history as the first time a trans woman has been in competition for the prize – but just after it was announced, her Hollywood career was upended.
The Oscars campaign was torpedoed by resurfaced old tweets in which Karla made controversial remarks on such subjects as George Floyd and Islam.
Amidst the furor, Karla kept away from the awards show circuit, and until Sunday the question hung in the air of whether she would attend the Oscars at all.
In the event, she skipped the red carpet but attended the actual ceremony – and when she met up with Selena again, fans zeroed in on them like hawks.
Selena Gomez and her Emilia Perez co-star Karla Sofia Gascon went viral for their awkward exchange at the Oscars – after the latter’s tweet scandal
The two actresses were in adjacent rows in the audience, and at one point they both stood up to give each other a peck on the cheek over the chairs.
Their brief exchange of pleasantries came off as so uncomfortable to fans that a joke about it has now become a runaway hit on X, formerly Twitter.
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Conan O'Brien ROASTS Karla Sofia Gascon to her face in awkward joke about tweet scandal
Posting a picture of the cheek-kiss, a fan joked that Karla was whispering to Selena: ‘The bomb will set off in 45 minutes. Leave the venue in a few.’
Less than two hours after being uploaded, the quip had received more than 23,000 likes, and was flooded with replies from people reacting with hilarity.
Some fans were infuriated at the kiss, with one writing: ‘Selena should stop talking with her. Karla is disgusting after everything she did!’
During his rollicking opening monologue, Oscars host Conan O’Brien made a joke about Karla’s tweet controversy to her face.
He observed that best picture nominee Anora used ‘the f-word 479 times,’ then vamped: ‘That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascon’s publicist!’
Karla responded with a tight smile, as Conan continued by quipping: ”Karla, if you are gonna tweet about the Oscars my name is Jimmy Kimmel.’
Karla has largely avoided the awards show circuit and skipped the red carpet at the Oscars, where Selena is seen posing in support of the film
During his rollicking opening monologue, Oscars host Conan O’Brien made a joke about Karla’s tweet controversy to her face, prompting a tight smile from her
The exchange of pleasantries drew a polarized reaction on social media, where some viewers saw the funny side and others reacted with revulsion
Just after Karla’s nomination was announced last month, Muslim writer Sarah Hagi dug up a series of old social media posts by the actress.
One posted in November 2020 read: ‘I’m sorry. Is it just my impression or is there more muslims in Spain? Every time I go to pick up my daughter from school there are more women with their hair covered and their skirts down to their heels. Next year instead of English we’ll have to teach Arabic.’
In September 2020, she posted an image of a Muslim family eating at a restaurant, where the wife was in a full black burqa, along with a sarcastic comment.
‘Islam is marvelous, without any machismo,’ she wrote. ‘Women are respected, and when they are so respected they are left with a little squared hole on their faces for their eyes to be visible and their mouths, but only if she behaves. Although they dress this way for their own enjoyment. How DEEPLY DISGUSTING OF HUMANITY.’
She also tweeted about the Black Lives Matter riots sparked by George Floyd’s death in police custody, in another post that drew brickbats.
‘I really think that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict swindler, but his death has served to once again demonstrate that there are people who still consider black people to be monkeys without rights and consider policemen to be assassins. They are both wrong,’ wrote Karla.
In one tweet from 2022, Karla also took aim at Selena, making fun of the rumors that she was feuding with her ex Justin Bieber’s wife Hailey Bieber.
Karla, who hails from Spain, is nominated for best actress for her performance as a cartel chief who pretends to die in order to transition into a woman; pictured in the film
‘She’s a rich rat who plays the poor bastard whenever she can and will never stop bothering her ex-boyfriend and his wife,’ Karla joked.
Social media erupted in outrage, with reports flying that Netflix had begun distancing themselves from Karla to avoid damaging the film’s other awards prospects.
Emilia Perez has evidently managed to avoid being overshadowed by the row, as Zoe Saldana has swept the awards show circuit.
She won best supporting actress at the Oscars, tearfully thanking her family but notably refraining from making any mention of Karla.
Oscar winners 2025 full list – see who received honors for this year’s Academy Awards
Best Picture
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked
Emilia Pérez leads this year’s Oscar nominees with 13, including for best picture, actress, supporting actress and director
Best Director
Jacques Audiard — Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker — Anora
Brady Corbet — The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat — The Substance
James Mangold — A Complete Unknown
Actress in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo — Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón — Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison — Anora
Demi Moore — The Substance
Fernanda Torres — I’m Still Here
The Substance has been nominated for numerous Oscars, including Best Actress for Demi Moore
Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody — The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet — A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo — Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes — Conclave
Sebastian Stan — The Apprentice
The Brutalist came in second place with 10 nods, including for best picture, actor (Adrien Brody), supporting actor (Guy Peare) and supporting actress (Felicity Jones)
Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro — A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande — Wicked
Felicity Jones — The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini — Conclave
Zoe Saldaña — Emilia Pérez – WINNER
Actor in a Supporting Role
Yura Borisov — Anora
Kieran Culkin — A Real Pain – WINNER
Edward Norton — A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce — The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong — The Apprentice
Animated Feature Film
Flow – WINNER
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Cinematography
The Brutalist — Lol Crawley
Dune: Part Two — Greig Fraser
Emilia Pérez — Paul Guilhaume
Maria — Ed Lachman
Nosferatu — Jarin Blaschke
Original Screenplay
Anora — Sean Baker – WINNER
The Brutalist — Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold
A Real Pain — Jesse Eisenberg
September 5 — Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; co-Written by Alex David
The Substance — Coralie Fargeat
Adapted Screenplay
A Complete Unknown — James Mangold and Jay Cocks
Conclave — Peter Straughan – WINNER
Emilia Pérez — Jacques Audiard with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi
Nickel Boys — RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
Sing Sing — Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield
Achievement in Production Design
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked – Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales – WINNER
Achievement in Sound
A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two – WINNER
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot
Original Song
El Mal – Emilia Pérez – Clément Ducol, Camille, and Jacques Audiard – WINNER
The Journey – The Six Triple Eight
Like A Bird – Sing Sing
Mi Camino – Emilia Pérez
Never Too Late – Elton John: Never Too Late
Original Score
The Brutalist — Daniel Blumberg
Conclave — Volker Bertelmann
Emilia Pérez — Clément Ducol and Camille
Wicked — John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
The Wild Robot — Kris Bowers
Live-Action Short Film
A Lien
Anuja
I’m Not a Robot – WINNER
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
Animated Short Film
Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress – WINNER
Magic Candies
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!
Documentary Feature Film
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land – WINNER
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane
Flow is nominated for both International Feature Film and Animated Feature Film
Documentary Short Film
Death by Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra – WINNER
International Feature Film
I’m Still Here (Brazil)
The Girl With the Needle (Denmark)
Emilia Pérez (France)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany)
Flow (Latvia)
Kieran Culkin has dominated the supporting actor categories in recent weeks for Jesse Eisenberg’s drama A Real Pain
Makeup and Hairstyling
A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance – Pierre Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli – WINNER
Wicked
Achievement in Costume Design
A Complete Unknown — Arianne Phillips
Conclave — Lisy Christl
Gladiator II — Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
Nosferatu — Linda Muir
Wicked — Paul Tazewell – WINNER
Achievement in Film Editing
Anora — Sean Baker – WINNER
The Brutalist — David Jancso
Conclave — Nick Emerson
Emilia Pérez — Juliette Welfling
Wicked — Myron Kerstein
Anora is nominated for several Oscars, including best picture, actress, supporting actor, director, screenplay and editing
Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Dune: Part Two – WINNER
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked