Karla Sofia Gascon really shook up what was turning out to be a dull and forgettable awards season. Last month, Gascon became the first transgender woman to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. What could have been a groundbreaking moment for trans actors quickly twisted into something else entirely. First off, people really hate Emilia Perez and no one really understands why it got so many Oscar nominations. Then Gascon quickly showed that she was nowhere near ready for the spotlight or the awards season heat – she publicly blamed Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres for the “bad press” EP was receiving. That’s when people really turned on Gascon, and a Canadian journalist highlighted Gascon’s long history of bigotry, racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism and just plain bitchiness towards many celebrities. All of this was made worse by Gascon refusing to shut up and refusing to accept responsibility for her own bullsh-t – she kept issuing self-pitying statements full of lies.

Last week, we learned that Netflix was basically cutting ties with Gascon in an attempt to salvage EP’s awards season – Netflix is no longer paying for Gascon’s travel, hotels, glam squad or fashion. They encouraged her to just stay home in Spain, and they aren’t even directly in contact with her. Neither is her director, Jacques Audiard. He told Deadline last week that he hasn’t spoken to her “and I don’t want to. She is in a self-destructive approach that I can’t interfere in, and I really don’t understand why she’s continuing. Why is she harming herself? Why? I don’t understand it, and what I don’t understand about this, too, is why she’s harming people who were very close to her.” That finally got through to Gascon, and she finally released a public statement saying that she would stay silent from here on out. Now sources are saying Gascon might not even go to the Oscars?

Netflix may have scored a whopping 13 Oscar nominations for “Emilia Pérez” — including Best Picture — but, following a scandal with the movie’s Best Actress nominee, Karla Sofía Gascón, even the streamer’s CEO has appeared to distance himself. Power player Ted Sarandos sat with Erin Foster, the creator of Netflix’s hit series “Nobody Wants This” at the American Film Institute’s annual lunch on Thursday — and away from the “Pérez” team, which included writer/director Jacques Audiard and co-star Zoe Saldaña. The seating arrangement was the talk of the event, Page Six is told, as it comes after Gascón, 52, has drawn fire with newly resurfaced racist and anti-Muslim tweets.

“In 40 years in this business, I’ve never seen a debacle like ‘Emilia Pérez,’” said one longtime Hollywood insider who has worked on many Academy Awards campaigns.

Oscar battles are infamously an expensive — and often dirty — business. Studios and streamers can spend up to $30 million to get their nominees up on the podium. And Netflix is said to really, really want the Best Picture award which has, so far, eluded its efforts.

“‘Emilia Pérez’ is over for Best Picture … it imploded,” the insider said. “It still has a shot for Best Foreign Film, it depends on whether Academy voters want to punish the entire cast for one woman’s mistake. It’s so sad and horrible for all the people that made that wonderful film.”

Although Gascón continues to be repped by mega talent agency UTA, Page Six has confirmed that she is now looking for crisis management.

Netflix did not pay for Gascón to fly to the US from Spain for crucial days of campaigning, and multiple sources said that she may not attend the SAG awards on February 23 in Los Angeles. Indeed, she may not even attend the Oscars on March 2 — although she was in a New York Times ad last weekend and is in billboards along Sunset Boulevard, paid for by Netflix.

“Do you think [the Screen Actors Guild] is going to let her through the door on the red carpet?” said the insider, “They are not admitting her to their temple. “If she was smart she wouldn’t go to the Oscars, which is really, really so woke.”

A source close to the film said: “At this point we really don’t know if Karla is going to the Oscars. Netflix is still actively campaigning for all 13 nominations, the only thing that is different is that Karla is not doing anything.”

[From Page Six]

If you’re anything like me, you were confused by “Netflix has never won Best Picture” – I was like, didn’t Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma win BP? But no, it did not. That year, Green Book won BP. So yeah, a Netflix film has never won BP. It’s not going to win this year either – what Netflix is attempting to do is cauterize the PR bleed and just blank Gascon entirely. Netflix is no longer putting any money or effort into the Best Actress race, but they’re putting money in Best Picture, Director and Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldana. They want to pretend like Gascon isn’t even around, and it will be easier for them to do that if she agrees to stay home for the rest of the awards season. While I thought Gascon’s tweets were despicable, I also sort of think… she should still go to the Oscars. Skip the red carpet, for sure, but go to the Oscar ceremony and have that moment of being an Oscar nominee. Because let me tell you, it won’t be happening again for Gascon.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.