Oscars frontrunner 'Emilia Perez' suffers awards season crash

Rarely has a film fallen from favour so quickly: after gaining a record number of Oscar nominations for a foreign-language movie, narco-musical "Emilia Perez" has become embroiled in scandal linked to past social media posts by star Karla Sofia Gascon.

Gascon, the first transgender woman Oscar nominee for best actress, has seen her path to glory seriously compromised by her posts about Islam, US anti-racism protests, and even the Oscars themselves which she called an "ugly gala", AFP reports. From being a symbol of diversity embraced by Hollywood, she has risked alienating left-leaning members of the Academy who decide the Oscar winners -- despite her apologies and insistence that she is "not a racist".

Hollywood trade outlets reported that distributor Netflix, which was banking on "Emilia Perez" for its first best picture Oscar, had dropped the 52-year-old from its campaign and distanced itself from the best actress nominee.

A Netflix web page promoting the film "for your awards consideration" contained an image of Zoe Saldana, the movie's best supporting actress nominee. Contacted by AFP, Netflix declined to comment.

"Emilia Perez" French director Jacques Audiard on Wednesday disavowed his lead actress, calling Gascon's original social media posts "inexcusable" and "absolutely hateful."

Audiard told trade outlet Deadline that by continuing to lash out at her critics, Gascon's "self-destructive approach" was now "harming people who were very close to her," including himself, Saldana, and co-star Selena Gomez.

The mostly Spanish-language movie that was filmed in France and set in Mexico was nominated for 13 Oscars, as well as 11 BAFTAs, Britain's equivalent to the Oscars, and 12 Cesars in France.

It picked up four Golden Globes in January, including for best comedy or musical.