Oscar Nominee Karla Sofía Gascón Faces Backlash Over Allegations

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Karla Sofía Gascón, the Spanish actress nominated for Best Actress at the 2025 Oscars for her role in *Emilia Pérez*, has sparked controversy after accusing fellow nominee Fernanda Torres and her team of orchestrating a smear campaign against her. The allegations, made during an interview with Brazilian outlet *Folha de S.Paulo*, have raised questions about whether Gascón violated the Academy’s rules on campaign conduct.

Gascón, who is competing against Torres for her performance in *I’m Still Here*, claimed that Torres’ social media team has been working to undermine her film and her chances of winning the prestigious award. “If she wins, great; if I win, great. What I don’t like is that there’s a social media team working around these people trying to discredit my work and my film,” Gascón said. “To highlight one person’s work, you don’t need to tear down others.”

Despite her accusations, Gascón praised Torres, calling her a “wonderful woman” and an “incredible actress” who deserves recognition. However, she maintained that she has observed individuals associated with Torres speaking negatively about her and *Emilia Pérez*. “I have never spoken ill of Fernanda Torres or her film, but I do see many people in her circle speaking badly about me and *Emilia Pérez*,” she added.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has strict rules prohibiting public communications that disparage competing films or nominees. According to the 2014 campaign regulations, “No form of public communication by anyone directly associated with an eligible film that attempts to cast a negative light on a competing film will be tolerated.” While these rules have been updated over the years, the 2025 guidelines do not explicitly include the same language, leaving Gascón’s comments in a gray area.

Variety reported on January 29 that Gascón’s remarks do not violate current Academy rules, as she did not make disparaging comments about Torres’ performance. Gascón later clarified her statements, emphasizing her admiration for Torres and condemning the toxic behavior on social media. “I am a great admirer of Fernanda, and it has been wonderful to get to know her in recent months,” she said. “My recent comments were about the toxicity and violent hate speech on social media that I continue to experience.”

As of now, the Academy has not issued a statement regarding the controversy. Gascón’s nomination remains intact, but the backlash has led to heated debates online, with some users accusing her of hypocrisy. The actress has since made her X (formerly Twitter) account private, limiting public access to her posts.

The 97th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 12, 2025, where the Best Actress category will be one of the most closely watched contests of the night.