Conan O’Brien has addressed the controversy surrounding Emilia Perez star Karla Sofia Gascon’s unearthed tweets during his opening speech at the 97th Academy Awards

Oscars host Conan O’Brien addressed the scandal surrounding Emilia Perez star Karla Sofia Gascon in his opening speech amid controversy over a number of tweets she posted prior to the film’s release.

After the posts, which made comments about Islam, the death of George Floyd and diversity at the Oscars, were brought to light, the actress apologised and maintained that she had not been “racist” in Instagram posts.

Opening the event, O’Brien, 61, said: “I am excited to be here. Welcome to the 97th Academy Awards. It’s Hollywood’s biggest night. It starts at four in the afternoon. Everyone here just had brunch, I don’t understand it.”

Addressing the controversy, he added: “Little fact for you, (film) Anora uses the F word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascon’s publicist.” He continued: “Karla Sofia Gascon is here tonight, and Karla if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, remember, my name is Jimmy Kimmel.”

Karla Sofia Gascon is not at the Oscars this evening ( 
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)

Emilia Perez has faced criticism from those in the Mexican film industry for focusing on the country’s drug problems and for its few cast members from the country.

The film stars the first transgender actress to be nominated for a Golden Globe and to win the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, Gascon, singer and Only Murders In the Building actress Gomez as the crime boss’s wife Jessi, and Saldana, who plays Neytiri in James Cameron’s Avatar film series and alien assassin Gamora in the Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise.

Mexican actress Adriana Paz features as Epifania, a love interest of Emilia whose husband is among the missing people in Mexico, and Zero Dark Thirty actor Edgar Ramirez plays Jessi’s former lover. In an interview with US outlet Deadline, director Jacques Audiard said he was “shocked” by criticism, and claimed the movie’s critics either “haven’t seen the film properly or they haven’t seen it at all and are acting in bad faith”.

Gascon has also faced criticism for a number of tweets between 2019 and 2024, which saw her make comments about Islam, the death of George Floyd and diversity at the Oscars. After the tweets were brought to light, the actress apologised and maintained that she had not been “racist” in Instagram posts.

Audiard told Deadline the remarks were “absolutely hateful” and said they made it “very hard” for him to think back to his “exceptional” time working with her. After his interview, Gascon announced she would “let the work talk for itself”, and said she was “hoping my silence will allow the film to be appreciated for what it is”.