Zoe Saldaña Doesn’t ‘Support’ Karla Sofia Gascón’s Offensive Tweets: ‘It Saddens Me’

Zoe Saldaña is making it clear that she does “not support” her Emilia Pérez co-star Karla Sofía Gascón‘s recently surfaced offensive and problematic past social media posts. During a Q&A in London Friday, the actress said she was “sad” to hear about the controversy and was still “processing” her feelings.

“I’m still processing everything that has transpired in the last couple of days, and I’m sad,” Saldaña said. “It makes me really sad because I don’t support [it], and I don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group.”

“I can only attest to the experience that I had with each and every individual that was a part, that is a part, of this film, and my experience and my interactions with them was about inclusivity and collaboration and racial, cultural, and gender equity,” she added. “And it just saddens me. It saddens me that we are having to face this setback right now.”

Saldaña thanked the audience for “still showing up” for the film, lauding its message and “the change that it can bring forward to communities that are marginalized.”

“All that I can attest is that all of us that came together to tell this story, we came together for love and for respect and curiosity, and we will continue to spread that message. That’s all we can say right now,” she added.

On Thursday, tweets by Gascón from 2020 and 2021 surfaced online, featuring controversial comments about Muslims, the killing of George Floyd, and diversity at the Oscars. At least 12 posts were aimed at Muslims, as Gascón described Islam as an “infection for humanity” and described the migration of Muslims into Spain as a “planned invasion.” Gascón’s posts were deleted Thursday.

Separately, Gascón made a thread following the police murder of Floyd, writing that she thought “very few people ever cared” about “a drug addict swindler.” And in 2021, the year Nomadland won Best Picture, she wrote: “I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M. Apart from that, an ugly, ugly gala.”

That night, Gascón issued a statement acknowledging her posts “that have caused hurt,” adding: “As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain. All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”

Gascón deleted her account shortly after and told The Hollywood Reporter that she did so because she could “no longer allow this campaign of hate and misinformation to affect me and my family, so at their request I am closing my account on X.”

“I have been threatened with death, insulted, abused, and harassed to the point of exhaustion,” she added. “I have a wonderful daughter to protect, whom I love madly and who supports me in everything.”