As I reported yesterday, Netflix is no longer campaigning best actress nominee Karla Sofia Gascón (“Emilia Perez”). It’s been confirmed by THR. Not just that, they’re now refusing to accommodate Gascón for upcoming awards events, including AFI, The Critics Choice Awards, Santa Barbara and the Producers Guild Awards.
Tensions are said to be high between Gascón and Netflix, which invested $30M+ in the film’s awards campaign. It’s become such a dire situation that the streamer is now refusing to provide transport and accommodation to Gascón.
The two parties are now said to be communicating only through Gascón’s agent, Jeremy Barber of UTA. And it is my understanding that there is no great interest on the part of Netflix to provide the usual courtesies afforded by a studio to an Oscar contender, such as transportation and accommodations, to facilitate her attendance at the remaining award season gatherings.
THR goes on to write that Gascón might actually attend the Goya Awards, Spain’s version of the Oscars, on Saturday since the controversial tweets that have embroiled the “Emilia Perez” star are “not seen as problematic in Europe” as they are in the United States, plus Gascón does not need to spend much in terms of accommodation. Will they even let Gascón attend the Oscars?
Now, with all of that brewing in the background, and with the knowledge that Gascón is probably done in terms of having a shot at winning best actress — who wins the category?
Surprisingly, Gascón is still #3 on the Gold Derby charts, but there will surely be a decline in the coming days and weeks. Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”) practically stands zero chance to win, so we’re left with three remaining contenders: Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”), Mikey Madison (“Anora”) and Demi Moore (“The Substance”).
The momentum is currently on Torres’ side, she won the Golden Globe and was a surprise inclusion when the Oscar nominations were announced. Will enough voters have seen the Brazillian film? Moore, currently #1 on GD, is indeed the de facto frontrunner, and has an infectious narrative behind her. Madison, who gives the best performance of the five nominees, also has a decent shot at winning.
Hitler-defending tweets aside, Gascón should have never been nominated in the first place. The main reason why Gascón showed up was as a chance for voters to make history by having the actress become the first transgender acting nominee in Academy history. That’s clearly backfired. Spectacularly.
It’s a real shame though. To virtue signal Gascón into a nomination and neglect far worthier performances such as Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”), and Nicole Kidman (“Babygirl”). I hope the Academy has learned a valuable lesson amidst this total sh*tshow.
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.