Amid an ongoing controversy involving Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón‘s past problematic social media posts that many labeled as racist, the history-making trans actress was absent from the Netflix film’s introduction — which did feature Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez — at Sunday night’s SAG Awards.

Gomez and Saldaña took the stage at the ceremony (which was also streamed live by Netflix, the studio that purchased distribution rights to Emilia Pérez out of the Cannes Film Festival last year) to speak about the project, as is customary for representatives from the night’s nominated ensembles to do. Gascón, who was nominated in the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role category, did not take the stage with them — though an image of her was displayed on a screen behind both Saldaña and Gomez.

“Emilia Pérez was a magical collaboration where we got to sing and dance and explore the journey of being authentically yourself,” Saldaña, the front-running contender for the Oscars’ Best Supporting Actress prize, said. Added Gomez: “Emilia Pérez is a ride unlike any other. It’s thrilling, it’s heart-wrenching, and it’s always one fabulously choreographed step ahead of your expectations.”

Saldaña, who later won the 2025 SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (and did not thank Gascón in her speech), closed out the brief introduction by celebrating that, “Every once in a while we get a movie that dares to be as unpredictable as life itself,” she said. “And, here she is: Emilia Pérez.”

The show then cut to a clip package from the film that heavily focused on only Saldaña and Gomez, with Gascón only appearing front-on in a handful of brief images, though her voice could be heard saying her memorable line, “bingo,” and could be heard in the footage as well.

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for Netflix and Gascón for comment.

After Gascón broke new ground for trans performers in January by becoming the first out trans person to be nominated for an acting Oscar for her work in the Jacques Audiard-directed film, screenshots of controversial posts from Gascón’s now-deleted X account were shared by writer Sarah Hagi. The posts — some of which appear to have been deleted and EW was not able to independently verify — included language that disparaged Islam, including a 2016 post that read “Islam is becoming a hotbed of infection for humanity that urgently needs to be cured,” according to a translation included in the screengrab.

According to a Google-provided translation of another post from 2021 that is still up, Gascón wrote: “The West should ban Islam and any political or religious manifestation that violates human rights and universal values. Paradoxically, there is no other way to enforce rules than to have rules and enforce them.” A threaded post continued, “Obviously, I will never defend Islam or any religion. They all try to destroy human rights in favor of their stupid beliefs without sense or reason, ALL OF THEM. Human beings are imbeciles by nature and religions are proof of that. STOP RELIGIONS.”

Variety reported that in other since-deleted tweets, Gascón made troubling comments about the murder of George Floyd, diversity at the Oscars, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the COVID-19 vaccine.

Gascón eventually apologized for the remarks. “I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt,” the Spanish actress told The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”

She later said in a televised interview with CNN that she “cannot step down from an Oscar nomination” because she had “not committed any crime” or “harmed anyone,” she told the network, before adding, “I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am.”

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Audiard later told Deadline that Gascón’s posts were “inexcusable” and that he did not want to speak to her. Saldaña called her costar’s words “sad” and said she felt “disappointed” by them, while Gomez said recently at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (per THR) that “some of the magic has disappeared” given the controversy surrounding the project.

See the full list of 2025 SAG Awards winners