Conan O’Brien kickstarts his Oscars monologue with a dig at Karla Sofía Gascón

Oscars 2025 presenter Conan O’Brien kickstarted his monologue by making a dig at transgender Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón. 

The 97th Academy Awards made an effort to honour Los Angeles following the devastation caused by the recent wildfires. A montage of films set in Los Angeles played out on screen, including Fame and Barbie, as The Wizard of Oz’s most-famed line – “There’s no place like home” – bellowed in the background.

The montage paid tribute to the strength and community shown by those living in LA following the devastating wildfires that gripped the county in January. 

A hotly anticipated performance by Wicked co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande soon followed, with Grande covering Somewhere Over The Rainbow” and Erivo performing “Home” by Diana Ross, recorded for the 1978 film The Wiz. 

Following the performance, O’Brien launched his first-ever Oscars presenting monologue, after Harrison Ford pulled out of the event due to illness. And he didn’t shy away from calling out Emilia Pérez star Gascón, who recently landed in hot water over resurfaced offensive social media posts. 

"Anora uses the F-word 479 times. That's 3 more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón's publicist."

—Conan O'Brien during his Oscars monologue pic.twitter.com/6oGywtcFKR

— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 3, 2025

“A little fact for you, Anora uses the ‘F-word’ 479 times,” O’Brien said. “That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist.

“Karla Sofía Gascón is here tonight,” he continued, clapping alongside the audience. “And Karla if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, remember, my name is Jimmy Kimmel.”

Gascón was in fact in the audience despite speculation over whether the actress would attend, or not. The cameras appeared to pan to the star following the quip. She put her hands together and bowed towards the host following her mention. 

Conan O’Brien: “Karla Sofía Gascón is here tonight. And Karla, if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, my name is Jimmy Kimmel” #Oscars pic.twitter.com/9ik28evXyj

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) March 3, 2025

The Spanish star is nominated in the Best Actress category at this year’s Oscars – marking the first transgender performer ever nominated in an acting category – but she was seemingly removed from the pre-Oscars campaign trail by Emilia Pérez streaming site, Netflix.

Gascón’s face had reportedly been taken off of promotional materials relating to the Emilia Pérez film, despite her playing the lead, titular character, a Mexican cartel boss who fakes her own death to undergo gender-affirming surgery.

Academy Awards bosses have already weighed in on her attendance prior to her arrival, explaining that the Oscars “do not condone hate speech”. 

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