Oscars 2025: Netflix’s 'Best Picture' nominee faces controversy over resurfaced offensive posts

Gascon's Controversial Posts Resurface

According to Reuters, Gascon’s posts, dating from 2016 to 2020, contained inflammatory remarks, including descriptions of Islam as a “hotbed of infection for humanity” and referring to George Floyd as a “drug addict swindler.” The controversy escalated rapidly as social media users amplified the issue. Though Gascon issued an apology, the damage had already been done.

“This is the year of somebody basically lighting themself on fire and taking their own movie down with them,” said veteran marketing executive Terry Press, who has worked on Oscar campaigns for Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard. In the wake of the backlash, Gascon stepped away from Hollywood’s awards circuit but has confirmed she will attend the Oscars ceremony.

Netflix has not publicly addressed the controversy.

Scandals Plague Best Picture Nominees

This year’s Best Picture category has been rife with scandals, according to Michael Schulman, author of Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat and Tears.

Director Brady Corbet faced scrutiny over the use of artificial intelligence in The Brutalist to refine the Hungarian dialogue of actors Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones. Similarly, Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, nominated for Best Actress for I’m Still Here, issued an apology after an old clip of her in blackface resurfaced.

“I wrote a piece for The New Yorker comparing it to Conclave because the whole thing just reminds me of the movie, where every candidate running for Pope has some skeleton in