Trans-identifying actor Karla Sofía Gascón, the first man nominated for the Best Actress award, claims he dealt with dark thoughts amid his Oscars controversy.
The Spanish actor said the days leading up to the 97th Academy Awards earlier this month were the “most exposed” period of his life and “things escalated” to an extreme point for him.
After controversially getting the first nomination as a male for Best Actress, Gascón was getting a lot of promotional buzz from progressive voices. However, when his past social media posts criticizing George Floyd and Islam resurfaced, the actor was caught up in an avalanche of backlash, largely from the Left.
“Absurd and even delirious accusations were thrown at me, which deeply hurt my spirit. Things escalated to a point, and so quickly, that I couldn’t even breathe,” the actor said, per The Guardian. “Amid this unexpected, devastating storm, there have been moments when the pain has been so overwhelming that I contemplated the unthinkable,” Gascón continued.
“I harbored darker thoughts than those I considered in some of my previous, no less intimate and personal struggles. And I asked myself: if I, with all my strength and preparedness to deal with rage and rejection, am on the edge, what would have become of someone with fewer emotional resources to resist this onslaught? Somehow, I made it. Others would not have survived this brutal winter I am about to wrap up.”
The musical drama “Emilia Pérez” received 13 nominations at the Oscars but wound up taking home just two golden statues: Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña and Best Song for El Mal.
After the ceremony, Gascón told The Hollywood Reporter that he “loved the ceremony” and “found it very enjoyable” but said he would have preferred different circumstances. “I would have liked to experience it more normally, from the happiness of being nominated, of celebrating, as I am now, full of love, a person who puts her soul and her being into her work and who gives herself to others,” he said.
Among the past social media posts that landed Gascón in hot water in Hollywood were posts highlighting George Floyd’s drug abuse and criticizing Islam.
“Let me get this straight, a guy tries to pass off a counterfeit bill after consuming methamphetamine, an idiot policeman arrives and goes too far in arresting him, killing him, ruining the lives of his family and his colleagues, and turning the guy with the bill into a martyr hero,” he tweeted in June 2020. He went on to describe Floyd as “a drug addict swindler.”
In a November 2020 tweet, Gascón wrote about Muslims in Europe: “Sorry, is it just my impression or are there more and 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. Maybe next year instead of English we’ll have to teach Arabic. Until we ban religions that go against European values and violate human rights, such as Islam, under the protection of freedom of worship, we will not end part of the huge problem we face.”
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a free hotline for individuals in crisis or distress or for those looking to help someone else. It is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.
