Netflix is finally addressing the public controversy involving its Oscar-nominated film Emilia Perez and its lead actress Karla Sofia Gascon.
Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria addressed the controversy during her appearance on the podcast, The Town, where she was questioned about Karla’s previous offensive tweets.
“I believe it’s truly disappointing for the 100 exceptionally skilled individuals who created a fantastic film,” Bela expressed on the podcast. “And considering the nominations and all the awards it has garnered, I believe it’s really disappointing that it overshadowed that.” It has truly shifted the dialogue in a different direction [from] this remarkable film created by Jacques Audiard — an amazing director. It’s truly disappointing for many individuals, such as [co-stars] Zoe [Saldaña] and Selena [Gomez]. Our awards team executed an amazing campaign for that film.
When questioned about the possibility of the streamer reassessing their talent vetting method, Bela responded, “It’s not typically standard for individuals to scrutinize social tweets in that manner … Many are reconsidering that … I believe it is prompting inquiries for numerous people about reassessing that procedure.”
“I believe you also need to [consider]: Will we genuinely examine the personal social media of tens of thousands of individuals daily across the globe, [in light of the] volume of original films, TV productions, and co-productions that we create and license?” “It brings up many inquiries about how that ought to appear,” she said. “If you were to ask me right now, based on all my knowledge, we would still purchase the film today.” That film is amazing, innovative, and daring — that’s what you desire, and it connected with many individuals this year.
In case you didn’t notice, Netflix withdrew their support for Karla during the awards season and ceased funding her accommodations for attending events.
Karla has issued apologies, and more recently, she promised to withdraw from the public eye.
The Emilia Perez director responded to Karla’s reemerged tweets and later apologies, indicating that he hasn’t communicated with her since everything happened, and he prefers not to.
