Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who played Emilia Pérez, was in headlines recently for an unexpected reason following the 2025 Oscars. The Oscar nominee actress wrote on Instagram that she unknowingly consumed a THC-spiked drink that was part of the gift package for nominees. The experience left her sick, having at first mistaken her symptoms for exhaustion before realizing that she had consumed cannabis.
The experience was shocking and amusing to Gascón, and she was thankful that her daughter had not drank the beverage in school. The news was one of several rocky ones for the actress, who has recently been in trouble for previous social media activity.
The Academy Awards gift bags are filled with upscale offerings, from luxury to, in recent years, cannabis-based ones. Gascón, having no idea of the contents of the beverage, drank a lemon soda and snacked on a pack of chips. She soon felt dizzy and ill. Assuming that she was feeling this way because of exhaustion, she worried further as her state persisted.
After confiding in her friend, she inspected the drink and saw that it included THC, cannabis’s psychoactive substance. The actress reported in an open-ended manner, encouraging people to carefully read product labels before consuming them. She was also thankful that her daughter was not drinking the beverage unknowingly in school, and included a lighthearted but informative remark to her audience.
The THC incident comes in the wake of backlash against Gascón due to resurfaced social media posts of racist and Islamophobic comments. The years-old postings contained derogatory remarks about Muslims and criticisms of the diversity initiatives of the 2021 Oscars.
The backlash grew in strength following podcaster and writer Sarah Hagi referencing the tweets on X (formerly known as Twitter), which sparked general criticism. Netflix, in advertising Emilia Pérez, was observed to distance itself from Gascón, removing her from various promotional campaigns.
Gascón responded to criticism in statements, defending and apologizing. In apologizing, she was sorry for the harm caused by her statements, saying, “As a member of a marginalized community, I know this pain all too well and I am sorry to the people I offended. I fought my whole life for a better world. I believe light will overcome darkness.” Subsequently, however, she appeared to dig in, declaring in an interview:
“I have been judged, condemned, sacrificed, crucified, and stoned without a trial and without the right to defend myself.”
Despite criticism, Gascón attended the 2025 Academy Awards but steered clear of walking the red carpet. Her red carpet no-show was one of her first high-profile events in weeks following the social media backlash. She sat in her Emilia Pérez co-star Selena Gomez’s area, arriving right at the start of the show, in a sleek, black, beaded evening dress.
Social media and industry people gave her a two-sided reception. There were people who commended her for braving the public in light of the backlash, while there were also people criticizing the Academy for inviting her in light of the backlash.
The Gascón case reminds one of Hollywood questions of accountability. In recent years, several public figures have been called to account for their complicated pasts in social media. The industry has trouble grappling with redemption and accountability, particularly for marginalized communities.
Her situation has drawn parallel to other high-profile scandals, one of which is that of comedian Kevin Hart, who resigned from hosting the Oscars in 2019 in light of homophobic tweets in his history. Unlike Hart, however, Gascón has not backed down, not withdrawing from the Oscar competition. As fallout settles, time will reveal how this ultimately impacts her future career. Will Hollywood turn its collective back and look elsewhere, or will Gascón find herself benched for future high-ticket productions? In either scenario, her experience is a reminder of the higher scrutiny of celebrities in the digital age.
