Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón has not been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, following her headline-making 2025 Oscar campaign controversy.
The 53-year-old Spanish actor, who made history as the first-ever openly trans individual to be nominated for an Academy Award in any acting category, was notably left off this year’s list of 534 artists and executives to receive the prestigious invitation.
It’s typical of first-time nominees to receive an invite. In fact, Wicked star Ariana Grande, Anora’s Oscar-winning actor Mikey Madison, Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), and Best Supporting Actor winner Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), all of whom landed their first Oscar nomination at the March ceremony, were among the names on the invitation released Thursday.
“We are thrilled to invite this esteemed class of artists, technologists, and professionals to join the Academy,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang. “Through their commitment to filmmaking and to the greater movie industry, these exceptionally talented individuals have made indelible contributions to our global filmmaking community.”
Gascón’s Emilia Pérez co-star Zoe Saldaña, who won Best Supporting Actress at the latest ceremony, was also not on the list as she is already a member.
According to the organization’s rules, an Oscar nomination gives a person automatic consideration for Academy membership. For the Acting Branch, it exempts them from having to meet the rules of “a minimum of three theatrical feature film credits, in all of which the roles played were scripted roles, one of which was released in the past five years, and all of which are of a caliber that reflect the high standardsof the Academy.”
Gascón’s absence from the list makes her the second first-time Best Actress nominee from the past 10 years to not be invited immediately following their nomination, according to TheWrap. Roma’s Yalitza Aparicio, 31, who earned a Best Actress nomination in 2019, was not offered AMPAS membership until 2020.
While the Academy has not given a public statement about Gascón’s exclusion from the invitees, it comes months after her Oscar campaign fell apart.
A week after her historic Oscar nomination, the actor faced accusations of racism and Islamophobia when old social media posts resurfaced.
She later deleted the tweets, issuing an apology “to those I have caused pain.”
“I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt,” Gascón said in a statement at the time. “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. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”
The controversy didn’t stop there. The next month, she gave a tearful, hour-long interview with CNN en Español, insisting that she was “not a racist.”
Still, Netflix distanced itself from Gascón, removing her from promotional emails and editing the film’s posters to give Saldaña more prominence.
While it remained uncertain if she would even attend the 2025 Oscars, she did make a surprise appearance after skipping the red carpet.
In the months since, Gascón has landed her first role post-scandal in a 19th-century-set Spanish western titled Trinidad, directed by Laura Alvea and José Ortuño.
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