Karla Sofía Gascón responds to Timothée Chalamet ballet controversy: ‘Are you trans? Then don’t worry’

Karla Sofía Gascón, the controversial trans star of beleaguered Oscar-winning movie Emilia Pérez, has waded into the debate surrounding Timothée Chalamet’s opera and ballet remarks.

In a post on Instagram Stories on Monday (10 March), the Academy Award-nominated star casually shared her thoughts on the furore surrounding Chalamet, who is in hot water for stating during an interview that “no one cares” about art forms like ballet and opera.

Gascón shared an internet meme which placed a still of her titular Emilia Pérez character talking on the phone alongside an image of Chalamet’s titular Marty Supreme character, also speaking on the phone. 

The meme had been shared alongside the caption “Hola Karla, do u think they gonna make me pass the red carpet at the Oscars?”. It references the fact that Gascón’s presence at last year’s Academy Awards was tempered down after she was embroiled in a racism row following the resurfacing of some of her old posts on X, formerly twitter. 

She had been nominated in the Best Actress category for her role in Emilia Pérez, making her the first publicly trans person to be nominated in an acting category at the Oscars.

Adding her own commentary to the meme, Gascón wrote: “Are you a Trans woman? Then don’t worry about it, Tim.”

She added wryly: “Besides, I love ballet slippers and I’ve seen Phantom of the Opera ten times. Not sure if that counts for anything. Best of luck with the awards.”

In her final comment on the Chalamet debacle, Gascón noted that the A Complete Unknown star’s remarks had been captured on film, during a conversation with his Interstellar co-star Matthew McConaughey. In her case though, she protested that “no one has seen or heard [her] say anything” offensive.

“Even though no one has seen or heard me say anything, while they have both seen and heard you, people still seem to prefer believing whatever the bad guys claim I said,” she wrote.

Karla Sofia Gascón’s Oscars campaign was upended last January after a slew of X posts, posted between 2016 and 2021, were unearthed, some of which contained a​​nti-Islamic sentiment. Others included offensive remarks about diversity at the Academy Awards, Black Lives Matter and George Floyd.

The history-making actress swiftly deleted the posts and later apologised for them, telling CNN in a tearful interview that she was “deeply sorry” for her remarks. She was later removed from promotional duties for Emilia Pérez ahead of the Oscars, and mocked at the ceremony.

Over the weekend, Marty Supreme star Timothée Chalamet, who is nominated for Best Actor at this years Academy Awards, whipped up controversy for his remarks about opera and ballet.

“I don’t wanna be working in ballet or opera or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive even though no one cares about this anymore,’” he said during his chat with McConaughey, which centred on preserving cinema and took place at the University of Texas in February. 

“All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason,” he added mockingly.

Opera and ballet stars including Deepa Johnny and Martin Chaix rejected Chalamet’s remarks, while his acting contemporaries – including Jamie Lee Curtis and Whoopie Goldberg – condemned him for speaking poorly about another art form.

Conversely, the actor has also been invited to attend ballet and opera shows and learn about the art forms, with invitations coming from institutions including the Royal Ballet and Opera, the English National Ballet, Sadler’s Wells and Scottish Opera.

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