Oscars 2025 Host Conan O’Brien Calls Out Karla Sofía Gascón Amid Emilia Pérez Controversy
Karla Sofía Gascón knows how to take a joke.
During the 2025 Oscars, the Emilia Pérez star—who has been ensnared in controversy after her old social media posts resurfaced one month prior—was welcomed by host Conan O’Brien with a playful joke at her expense. (See everyone who won big at the 2025 Oscars here.)
"I loved Anora," the comedian said during his opening monology at the March 2 ceremony. "Little fact for you, Anora uses the f-word 479 times. That's three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón's publicist. 'You tweeted what?!'"
"I'm having fun,” he continued after the laughter died down. “Karla Sofía Gascón is here tonight. And, Karla, if you're going to tweet about the Oscars, remember, my name is Jimmy Kimmel."
One day later, Karla—the first openly trans actor to be nominated for an Oscar—issued her witty response.
“Thanks to the members of @theacademy for the nomination for best leading actress, for the invitation to the gala,” the 52-year-old captioned a March 3 Instagram post. “I really enjoyed it, very amiable and funny, especially your fabulous host Jimmy Kimmel, he is fantastic, every day he looks more like the great Conan O’Brien.”
As for how she reacted in the moment? The actress took the joke in stride inside Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre as well. Indeed, when the camera cut to her, she let out a laugh before turning to her friend to seemingly clarify the host’s humor.
For the 97th Academy Awards, Karla was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in Emilia Pérez. And while she didn’t end up winning in the category (Anora’s Mikey Madison took home the trophy), her costar Zoe Saldaña did take home an Oscar statuette for Best Actress in a Supporting Role as well as the film’s “El Mal” earning Best Original Song.
And while Karla has already expressed her regret over the controversial tweets, Zoe found herself apologizing for backlash surrounding the film’s portrayal of Mexico after her win.
(Photo by Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty Images for Netflix)
“I'm very, very sorry that you and so many Mexicans felt offended,” the Oscar winner said to a reporter who called the film “really hurtful” in the press room. “That was never our intention. We spoke and we came from a place of love and I will stand by that.”
“I don't share your opinion,” she continued. “For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico. We weren't making a film about a country. We were making a film about four women, and these women could have been Russian, could have been Dominican, could have been Black from Detroit, could have been from Israel, could have been from Gaza. And these women are still very universal women that are struggling every day at trying to survive systemic oppression and trying to find their most authentic voices.”
For more moments you might have missed from the 97th Academy Awards, keep reading.
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Head to E! News' 2025 Oscars page for every OMG fashion and all the winners and most talked about moments from this year's red carpet and ceremony.