Netflix Exec Weighs In On "Emilia Pérez" Tweet Scandal: "Such A Bummer"

Netflix has broken its silence on the controversy over �Emilia P�rez,� the
streaming giant�s musical drama, which earned 13 Academy Award nominations.

While the film has been heaped in praise for months, things took a turn
recently when old social media posts from trans-identifying actor Karla Sof�a
Gasc�n, who plays the main character, resurfaced and went viral. The posts
put forth controversial takes on hot topics, including George Floyd, Muslims,
and diversity at the Oscars.

Now Gasc�n has become persona non grata, with many in the film industry,
including �Emilia P�rez� director Jacques Audiard, disavowing him.

Netflix�s Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria gave her take on the situation
during an interview on �The Town� podcast, echoing what many others have been
saying and placing blame firmly on the film�s star rather than defending his
actions.

�I think it�s really a bummer for the 100 incredibly talented people who made
an amazing movie,� Bajaria said, per Variety. �And if you look at the
nominations, and all of this awards love that it�s received, I think it�s
such a bummer that it distracted from that.�

She continued, �It really has kind of taken the conversation in a different
way [from] this incredible movie that Jacques Audiard � who is an incredible
director � has made. It really is a bummer for a lot of the people, like
[co-stars] Zoe [Salda�a] and Selena [Gomez]. And our awards team did an
incredible campaign for that movie.�

The Netflix exec responded to a question about potentially vetting a star�s
social media accounts by saying, �It�s not really common practice for people
to vet social tweets that way � A lot of people are reevaluating that � I do
think it is raising questions for a lot of people about reevaluating that
process.�

Bajaria added, �I think you also have to [ask]: Are we going to actually look
at the personal social media of tens of thousands of people, every single day
around the world, [given the] amount of original film and TV and co-prods
that we make and license? It raises a lot of questions about what that should
look like.�

She said despite the backlash, it�s all been worth it.

�If you ask me today, everything I know, we would still buy the movie today.
That movie is incredible and it�s creative and it�s bold � that�s what you
want, and it resonated with a lot of people this year,� Bajaria concluded.

Gasc�n has apologized multiple times but is still being chastised and has
been uninvited from events to promote �Emilia P�rez� before the Oscars
ceremony.