Zoe Saldana calls for people to be forgiving as she wins award amid Emilia Perez co-star controversy

Zoe Saldana emphasised the value of forgiveness arsenic she collected an grant for her relation successful Emilia Perez amid a swirling contention implicit racist societal media posts by her co-star Karla Sofia Gascon.

Spanish histrion Gascon, who plays the titular relation successful the acclaimed film, has apologised aft facing a backlash implicit resurfaced societal media posts shared betwixt 2019 and 2021 that included Islamophobic rhetoric and violative comments astir George Floyd.

Saldana, who won Best Supporting Actress astatine the 2025 London Critics' Circle Awards connected Sunday, asked radical to beryllium "abstract with your thought of redemption" arsenic she addressed the attendees astatine the lawsuit successful Mayfair.

Not that she wasn't expecting to beryllium honoured, "especially now", she explained: "It is precise challenging to judge successful thing with truthful overmuch condemnation that you are consenting to spell against the atom and sometimes the atom tin betray you due to the fact that the atom tin archer you that it is the close path”

She continued: "You judge successful your heart, and you bash it. And I consciousness similar that is the way of an artist... to judge successful what you're feeling.

"If it's coming from a spot of emotion and purity and cognition and acquisition and probe and hard work. Emilia was done with truthful overmuch of each of those things."

Saldana - who is besides up for an Academy Award - went connected to convey her castmates, saying unneurotic they had made thing "really beautiful" followed by her plea for radical to "be abstract with your thought of redemption".

She added: "Keep your minds and your hearts unfastened always. And support making creation and telling your truth. Please."

Gascon precocious addressed the furore by taking portion successful a one-hour interrogation with CNN, insisting she "is not a racist" and that she would not beryllium renouncing her Oscar information "because [she has] not committed immoderate transgression nor [has she] harmed anyone".

She claimed galore of her societal media posts connected X, formerly Twitter, were taken retired of discourse and suggested the alleged screenshot of her calling different co-star Selena Gomez "a affluent rat" was false.

"I person ne'er said thing astir my partner. I would ne'er notation to her that way," she insisted.

The actress, who has since deactivated her relationship connected X, is the archetypal transgender performer to beryllium nominated for an Oscar successful the champion histrion category.