I coulda been a contender! The tainted Oscar favourite

Offensive tweets by its star have made former frontrunner Emilia Perez’ a toxic pick, writes Louis Chilton. Now all bets are off but that might not actually be such a good thing...

- Louis Chilton

If nothing else, this year's Oscar race has given us a case study that will be taught at PR crisis management training courses for years to come. Until a couple of weeks ago, Netflix's Emilia Perez a Spanish-language French musical film focusing on a transgender crime boss in modern Mexico – was a resounding success story. It won big at Cannes and the Golden Globes, swept the European Film Awards, and was nominated for a record-breaking 13 Oscars. The fact that the film was disliked by many trans critics, and so despised in Mexico that the country’s consumer protection agency had to weigh in over the vast number of cinemagoers demanding refunds, barely seemed an impediment. And then, in late January, it all came crashing down.

The film’s star, Karla Sofia Gascon, was this downfall’s expert architect – over the course of days, social media was flooded with tweets she had posted within the past five years expressing racist, Islamophobic or otherwise offensive sentiments. She apologised, once, twice, and then again, in an hour-long TV interview that was reportedly organised without the involvement of Netflix or the film’s team. Since then, the wheels have come off, and the car has spun into a ravine. Latest reports suggest that Netflix has distanced itself from Gascon, removing her from any promotional plans, redesigning the posters to spotlight her supporting co-star Zoe Saldana – whose own status as presumptive best supporting actress winner has been thrown into jeopardy – and refusing to cover any of Gascon’s travel costs for awards season.