Zoë Saldaña Is ‘Very Sorry’ ‘So Many Mexicans Felt Offended’ by Emilia Pérez

Nobody wants the first thing they do after winning an Oscar to be “apologize to an entire country,” but when you starred in Emilia Pérez, this kind of thing has to be expected at this point. Zoë Saldaña won the 2025 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, gave her speech, then promptly went backstage and got asked by a Mexican journalist about her feelings on how Emilia Pérez was “very very hurtful to Mexican people,” per Deadline. “I’m very, very sorry that you and so many Mexicans felt offended, that was never our intention, we came from a place of love and I stand by that,” Saldaña said in response. But, she noted, she does disagree with the criticism.

“For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico; we weren’t making a film about a country, we were making a film about four women, and these women could have been Russian, could have been Dominican, could have been Black from Detroit, could have been from Israel, could have been from Gaza, and these women were still very universal women, but are struggling every day, they’re trying to survive systemic oppression and trying to find their most authentic voices,” she said. “So, I will stand by that.” Where was the Netflix publicist assigned to Karla Sofía Gascón when you need them?

• [Deadline]

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