Though she largely sat the final round of awards season out after past problematic social media posts resurfaced and derailed her historic Best Actress run, Emilia Pérez performer Karla Sofía Gascón briefly reunited with her costar, Selena Gomez, in front of the audience at Sunday night's Oscars.

The 52-year-old Spanish actress, who in January became the first-ever out trans person nominated for any acting Oscar, attended the Academy Awards at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre after missing a string of recent events — including the 2025 SAG Awards (where Gomez and Saldaña took the stage to present an Emilia Pérez clip package to viewers), BAFTA Awards, and more. Prior to the Conan O'Brien-hosted show's start, Gascón was captured on camera reuniting with Gomez, with the pair exchanging words and a kiss on the cheek.

Gascón's scandal prompted her to skip several recent awards season ceremonies, though she returned to the circuit with an appearance at the Feb. 28 César Awards in France. To commemorate Gascón's return to the trail, O'Brien kicked off the 2025 Oscars ceremony with a joke about her, which she watched while seated in the audience despite not walking the red carpet ahead of the show.

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"Little fact for you: [Mikey Madison's character] Anora uses the f-word 479 times. That's three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón's publicist. 'She tweeted what?!'" O'Brien said, amid laughter and groaning from the audience. He then added a quick, "I'm having fun!" Refocusing, he announced, "Karla Sofía Gascón is here tonight," as the camera cut to a shot of Gascón in the audience. She smiled and put her hands together. "And Karla, if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, my name is Jimmy Kimmel," joked O'Brien.

After blazing a trail with her work in the Jacques Audiard-directed film—about a crime lord living in Mexico with the help of a lawyer (this year's Best Supporting Actress winner Zoe Saldaña) transitions and disappears from her wife (Gomez) and children—Gascón faced controversy when writer Sarah Hagi shared screenshots of problematic posts from her now-deleted X  account.

The posts — some of which were deleted, and EW was not able to independently verify — included language that disparaged Islam, including a 2016 post that read "Islam is becoming a hotbed of infection for humanity that urgently needs to be cured," according to a translation included in the screengrab.

Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez reunite at Oscars 2025.

RICHARD HARBAUGH/AMPAS/AFP via Getty

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Variety reported that in other deleted posts over the years, Gascón made comments about George Floyd's murder, diversity at the Oscars, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the COVID-19 vaccine.

Gascón later apologized for the remarks, telling The Hollywood Reporter, "I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt," she said. "As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well, and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain. All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness."

In a subsequent televised interview with CNN, Gascón told the network that, despite the controversy, she “cannot step down from an Oscar nomination" or bow out of the race, because she had "not committed any crime" or "harmed anyone," before stressing, "I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am."

Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón at 2025 Oscars.

Kevin Winter/Getty

In the aftermath of the scandal, Audiard told Deadline that Gascón's social media messages were "inexcusable" and that he did not want to speak to her at the time. Saldaña called her costar's words "sad" and said she felt "disappointed" by them, while Gomez said at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (per THR) that "some of the magic has disappeared" from the press cycle for the film, given the scandal surrounding Gascón.Elsewhere at Sunday's Oscars, the Emilia Pérez cast and crew fielded questions about other controversial elements that have bubbled up about the film, including its representation of trans people and Mexican culture.

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"Since I didn’t win Best Film or Best Director, I didn’t have the opportunity to speak," Audiard said via an interpreter in the Oscars press room after he was asked if he'd like to speak about contemporary politics amid a rise in anti-trans sentiment. "But had I had that opportunity, I would have spoken up."

Also in the press room, Saldaña fielded a question from a Mexican journalist, who told the actress that many in the country felt that the film was "really hurtful for us Mexicans."

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"First of all, I'm very, very sorry that you and so many Mexicans felt offended. That was never our intention. We spoke from a place of love," Saldaña replied. "But I don't share your opinion. For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico."

See the full list of 2025 Oscar winners