Karla Sofía Gascón, star of 2024 crime musical “Emilia Pérez,” has recently been under fire for old tweets of hers that have surfaced displaying hateful remarks regarding islamic culture, George Floyd and more.
The controversy has raised questions about whether Gascón should remove herself from Oscar nominations or not, but she has made it clear in a statement that she will not be doing this.
“I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am,” Gascón told CNN.
Her X account has since been deactivated and she has not said anything else about the tweets.
I feel as though cancel culture has taken on a mind of its own in our current society. People often have little ability to forgive past actions of celebrities, who in many cases were exposed to social media at an age where they didn’t know much about the world around them. We often get too comfortable with “canceling” a person and boycotting everything they make or do. It all feels very extreme in a lot of cases.
However, there are some instances where bigotry is outright evident and a clear aspect of a person’s character, even if it was years ago. I think people can very well be educated and grow and better themselves and I am certainly all for that. When things like this happen though, there should be an honest conversation between the celebrity and their fans who they have harmed with their words, showing evidence of their growth.
The fans don’t owe anyone who has said harmful things forgiveness, but I feel that this is the only way to be up front as a celebrity with mass influence who has proven to be harmful to groups of people or a specific person.
It is then also the celebrity’s responsibility to respond to fans’ criticism as a way of proving that they are on a path of growth and learning. If fans are angry that Gascón is still in Oscar contention because of her hateful tweets, she should respond and step down as a way of displaying her work to improve her image in the public light.
Cancel culture is so nuanced and specific to individual circumstances, but if celebrities operated more like this in light of controversy maybe fans wouldn’t continually throw away celebrities who let them down and add them to the “canceled” list.
oparisi@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @karsiagascon, Instagram
