Karla Sofia Gascón has hit back at Conan O’Brien after he mocked her during his opening monologue at the 2025 Oscars. 

The Spanish actress, 52, was pulled from awards season appearances after ‘racist’ tweets of hers were unearthed – sparking speculation as to whether or not she would attend Sunday’s Oscars. 

But Gascón did attend, and the controversy became the focus of one of host Conan’s jokes as he opened the show.  

Conan said: ‘Anora uses the F word 479 times… That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist: “You tweeted WHAT?”‘ Gascón responded with a тιԍнт smile, as Conan continued by quipping: ‘Karla, if you are gonna tweet about the Oscars my name is Jimmy Kimmel.’ 

She has now broken her silence on the joke as she took to Instagram on Monday to commemorate her night as an Oscar nominee. 

‘Thanks to the members of @theacademy for the nomination for best leading actress, for the invitation to the gala; I really enjoyed it, very amiable and funny, especially your fabulous host Jimmy Kimmel, he is fantastic, every day he looks more like the great Conan O’Brien,’ she wrote. 

Karla Sofia Gascón has hit back at Conan O’Brien after he mocked her during his opening monologue at the 2025 Oscars

Mentioning the controversy surrounding Gascón, Conan said: ‘Anora uses the F word 479 times… That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist: “You tweeted WHAT?”‘

‘Loved hugging so many friends and colleagues on this homecoming.’

Gascón added: ‘Congratulations to all the winners, especially to @camilleofficiel @zoesaldana @clementducol.

‘Thank you #jacquesaudiard @netflix @whynotproductions_officiel ♥️ Thank you Emilia Perez for teaching me so many things.’

Gascón had a lonely night at the Oscars after she was accused of being a racist over social media posts targeting Muslims and George Floyd. 

The Emilia Perez star – the first trans woman to be nominated for an acting Oscar – was once considered a front-runner to win Best Actress, but was shunned by Netflix and her co-stars after the posts emerged. Mikey Madison took the gong on Sunday.

It was unclear if she would show up at the event, as Netflix had pulled the plug on many of her pre-awards appearances after the scandal.

But she did show, alongside her daughter, agent, a ‘concerned’ Netflix publicist and private security, The New York Times reported. 

She was pH๏τographed interacting with co-star Selena Gomez in the audience after the show started, but did not walk the red carpet or pose with anyone from her film.

She has now broken her silence on the joke as she took to Instagram on Monday to commemorate her night as an Oscar nominee

She wrote: ‘I really enjoyed it, very amiable and funny, especially your fabulous host Jimmy Kimmel, he is fantastic’

Gascón did reportedly share a warm moment with Best Actor winner Adrian Brody at the bar, but was kept from speaking to any press by the Netflix publicist.

‘Gascón was jovial and interested in chatting,’ the NYT reported. ‘But before she could get out any answer, the Netflix publicist shut down any more conversation and moved the reporter away from Gascón.’

The Los Angeles Times noted that the controversy surrounding Gascón’s social media posts were ‘the most uncomfortable thing about being at the Academy Awards this year.’

The audience applauded politely every time Gascón was mentioned – but ‘without any real warmth,’ per the LA Times.

She was accompanied by a bodyguard and a Netflix publicist every time she got up from her seat.  

Just after Gascón’s nomination was announced last month, Muslim writer Sarah Hagi dug up a series of old social media posts by the actress.

One posted in November 2020 read: ‘I’m sorry. Is it just my impression or is there more muslims in Spain? Every time I go to pick up my daughter from school there are more women with their hair covered and their skirts down to their heels. Next year instead of English we’ll have to teach Arabic.’

In September 2020, she posted an image of a Muslim family eating at a restaurant, where the wife was in a full black burqa, along with a sarcastic comment.

Gascón said hello to co-star Selena Gomez, but did not pose with any of the Emilia Perez cast

Gascón was a regular in Mexican telenovelas before transitioning in 2018. In Emilia Pérez, she plays a menacing cartel kingpin who fakes his death in order to transition to a woman

‘Islam is marvelous, without any machismo,’ she wrote. ‘Women are respected, and when they are so respected they are left with a little squared hole on their faces for their eyes to be visible and their mouths, but only if she behaves. Although they dress this way for their own enjoyment. How DEEPLY DISGUSTING OF HUMANITY.’

She also tweeted about the Black Lives Matter riots sparked by George Floyd’s death in police custody, in another post that drew brickbats.

‘I really think that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict swindler, but his death has served to once again demonstrate that there are people who still consider black people to be monkeys without rights and consider policemen to be ᴀssᴀssins. They are both wrong,’ wrote Gascón.

Gascón apologised for for the posts but had insisted she is not a racist.

‘As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain,’ she said in a statement via Netflix, where her film can be streamed.

 ‘All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.’

Gascón was a regular in Mexican telenovelas before transitioning in 2018. In Emilia Pérez, she plays a menacing cartel kingpin who fakes his death in order to transition to a woman. Years later, her character contacts the lawyer who facilitated her transition to help her reunite with her wife and their children.