Gascón’s new book is an updated edition of her previous work published in Mexico, reflecting on her recent experiences and the fallout from being ‘cancelled’ over past tweets deemed racist and Islamophobic.
Thanks to her performance in the controversial but Cannes winning Emilia Pérez, Karla Sofía Gascón reached the pinnacle of her success. She won several awards, earned widespread recognition and became the first out transgender performer to be nominated for an Oscar.
Euronews Culture even selected Gascón as one of our People of the Year. We wrote: “Her fearless turn makes her 2024’s most unforgettable silver screen star, and having had the pleasure of meeting her at this year’s European Film Awards, Gascón is as kind as she is talented, exuding remarkable movie star charisma and communicating infectious joy.”
However, it soon came crumbling down after a series of resurfaced tweets sent the actress to rock bottom.
Gascón is unfiltered, unapologetic, “for better and for worse”, as she herself acknowledges. After weeks of silence following the backlash, she reappeared in Madrid to present her new book: “Lo que queda de mí” (“What’s left of me”).
The actress from Alcobendas sat down with Euronews Culture and other media outlets to explain how she felt after being cancelled, whether she would handle it differently today, her absence from the Oscars red carpet, and how this book – that mixes reality and fiction – serves as her redemption.
“It’s a book that will move you, that talks about the struggle, about her identity, about crucial moments in her career”, begins the description by the publisher of Almuzara, before handing the spotlight to the author herself.
“I found myself in a very complicated situation”
This is the first time she has published a book in Spain. It is based on a previous publication she made in Mexico and which has been updated with the latest events and reflections of her life.
“This book is part of a very difficult moment in my life”, she acknowledges in reference to the situation she had to deal with after several tweets from her past came to light. “I found myself in a very complicated situation, everything I had built in my life fell down.”
Throughout the 500 pages, which she initially began writing in 2017, there are fictionalised episodes of her life. Gascón describes it as a “wonderful publication that tells many things about me, but the reader must discover which are true and which are not”.
She has chosen this format to move away from a conventional autobiography, with her editor stressing that she has an “extremely good” story and way of expressing herself.
Gascón lays herself bare in this work, acknowledging that she recounts some of the most complicated moments of her life, some of them related to the high spheres of power in Mexico, where she built a successful acting career. This was a “marvellous” stage of her life, in which she ended up falling in love with a senator of the Republic and becoming involved in a “very complicated” relationship.
Aware of the controversy generated in recent weeks, she made a declaration of intent at a lunch we attended.
“I’m going to give you the headline: I’m less racist than Gandhi and less Vox than Echenique”.
The remark spread like wildfire, making her a trending topic on social media within 24 hours.
With this statement, she pushed back against the accusations levelled against her since past tweets came to light – statements which many have considered racist or ultra-conservative.
“Hate can only be stopped with love and not with more hate,” she says, assuring that she is now feeling much better after what happened and reiterating that she has been the victim of a coordinated attack.
“Nobody has to forgive me for anything”
Gascón is aware that her 2015 tweets have offended many, but she argues that they have been taken out of context, that some were manipulated, and that her views have evolved over time.
She also claims she had no recollection of writing the tweets and that she had almost deleted her account days before they resurfaced because she did not agree with Elon Musk’s views.
“I didn’t leave X because after being nominated for the Golden Globes as they gave me new rights to the account without paying”, she says with a laugh.
Despite the controversy, she insists that “no one has to forgive me anything, if anyone has felt offended by my statements, let them explain it to me,” she adds. “I have seen so many people talk about me without knowing me, calling me a Vox lady, extreme right-wing or racist”.
The actress also addressed how the controversy affected her career and public perception. Even when she was nominated for an Oscar, she wasn’t allowed on the red carpet.
“I didn’t even notice, they made me go somewhere else and then I realised I had jumped the carpet,” she explains. “They wanted to turn me into a robot, into someone immaculate who represents I don’t know who. I don’t represent anyone but myself. If someone identifies with me, great, but I’m not perfect and I don’t want to be. Art comes from human imperfection.”
Regarding the accusations of racism, Gascón emphasised her personal history.
“I find it totally unfair to be labelled a racist, a word I have fought against all my life. I have spent my life supporting the causes of Black people, of other ethnic groups, and to be labelled as such is something that does not fit in my head”.
Gascón also suggested that there could be a deliberate intention behind the controversy.
“Obviously, there is an intention to take four words out of context. They have chosen what they wanted to create – an image of me that I am not.”
Resilience and future
Despite the damage suffered, the actress showed resilience and a focus on the future.
“My fuel is the hate I receive,” she says. “I turn it into something useful to overcome myself. I don’t regret the silence I kept after the cancellation, it was a battle against myself that I won. This book has helped me to get my life back on track, to move forward.”
With “What’s left of me”, Gascón not only seeks to redeem herself, but also invites the reader to reflect on the concepts of truth, identity and personal struggle.
“Life is like that… When you are at the top, something brings you down,” she states. “But I still believe in humanity, and I have a responsibility to my daughter and to myself not to give up.”
