oscar
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Robert Smith / Getty
One of film’s finest (with some questionable past decisions) has finally received her long overdue acclaim. Zoe Saldaña has won an Oscar Award for her work in Emilia Perez.
As per The Guardian, the actor had one of the biggest nights of her professional career. On Sunday (March 2), the film industry gathered at the 2024 Academy Awards to celebrate the best performances of the previous year. The category for “Best Supporting Actress” was stacked with top tier talent including Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Ariana Grande (Wicked) and Isabella Rossellini (Conclave). Zoe Saldaña took home the award for her stellar work as Rita Mora Castro, a struggling lawyer who takes a Mexican cartel kingpin as a new client.
It was clear to everyone in attendance at the Dolby Theatre and viewers online that Zoe was taken by surprise with her win. “I am floored by this honor,” she explained. She first thanked her mother and remaining family but made sure to highlight her immigrant background. “I am a proud child of immigrant parents, with dreams and dignity and hardworking hands,” she said while trying to hold back her tears. “And I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last.”
She then closed out her speech with a reference to her late grandmother. “I hold the fact that I’m getting an award to a role where I got to sing and speak in Spanish — my grandmother, if she were here, she would be so delighted. This for my grandmother, Argentina Cesse. Thank you so much. Muchas gracias.”
While Emilia Perez has been met with general critical acclaim, the film has faced some ongoing criticism due to Karla Sofía Gascón, the film’s protagonist. The actor’s old social media posts are where she made some very derogatory remarks about Islam, the murder of George Floyd and more.
Additionally, Mexican media was very critical of the film for how it represented the country. As spotted on Variety, after her Oscar win she addressed the criticism at a press junket. “First of all, I’m very, very sorry that many Mexicans felt offended. That was never our intention. We spoke from a place of love,” she explained in the interview room. “I don’t share your opinion. For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico. We were making a film about friendship. We were making a film about four women.”
You can see Zoe Saldaña’s acceptance speech below.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: RAUL ARBOLEDA / Getty
One thing about the internet, it always keeps the receipts. The star of Emilia Perez is refusing to withdraw her Oscar nomination after a slew of her racist tweets have resurfaced.
As spotted on HuffPost, a thespian is taking some heavy heat for her choice of words and very damming takes on religion, police brutality and even the Oscar Awards itself. Karla Sofía Gascón, the lead actress in Emilia Perez is nominated for Actress in a Leading Role for her work as Emilia Pérez / Juan “Manitas” Del Monte, a drug cartel kingpin who wants to change her identity to a woman through surgery. While the film has been generally panned by the country of Mexico, the Netflix project quickly gained big praise from critics.
In late January a slew of her old posts on Twitter, now known as X, resurfaced. One stated that Islam isn’t “INCOMPATIBLE with Western values.” In another tweet she flat out called George Floyd “a drug addict and a scammer.” She also was critical of the 2021 Oscars saying, “More and more the #Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films,” Gascón 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.”
As expected, she is now facing extreme backlash and many are asking she withdraw her nomination from Actress in a Leading Role category. In an interview with CNN, she essentially brushed everything off. “I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination because I have not committed any crime nor have I harmed anyone. I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am,” she said.
She has also gone on to apologize in a formal apology via Netflix. “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,” she added. “I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”
The 2025 Oscar Awards will air live on Sunday, March 2.
-
Pages