Zoe Saldana escorted off 2025 Baftas stage after explicit Emilia Perez acceptance speech
The film has been marred by controversy in the lead up to award season.
Karla Sofía Gascón may be absent from this year’s Baftas, but Emilia Pérez was still the talk of the ceremony.
The Netflix musical/thriller was nominated for 11 awards at the prestigious 2025 ceremony, with the likes of Wicked, Dune: Part Two, The Brutalist, Anora, and A Complete Unknown also up for top prizes.
However, the success of the film has been marred by controversy.
Gascón, 52, made history as the first out trans person to be nominated for an Academy Award in the best actress category this year, but a shadow was quickly cast over the moment when her former comments were exposed.
She has since faced intense scrutiny, with the most recent remark dating back to 2022. On X, she targeted Muslims, the death of George Floyd, Oscar diversity, and even her co-star, Selena Gomez.
As a result, she skipped the Baftas ceremony, while other members of the cast, plus director Jacques Audiard, put in appearances instead.
She took home the best supporting actress gong (Picture: Scott Garfitt/BAFTA via Getty Images) …but not before dropping a few F-bombs (Picture: Stuart Wilson/Bafta/Getty Images for Bafta)Joining him was Zoe Saldana, who won the supporting actress award.
Saldana, who won in the same category at the Golden Globes, said the win was ‘so validating’ and ‘a true honour’.
She added: ‘This was a creative challenge of a lifetime; how do you begin to even approach a film that just defies categorisation, and you start by taking the lead of (director) Jacques Audiard.’
In an explicit speech, she then swore after saying she was being given a countdown to wrap things up.
Saldana, 46, was quickly pulled off camera as she shouted ‘f**k, f**k, f**k’ when the timer rushed her along.
‘Films are supposed to change hearts and challenge minds, and I hope Emilia Perez did something like this because voices need to be heard, just not my English accent,’ she concluded.
Sing Sing star Colman Domingo and A Different Man actor Adam Pearson presented the award, while Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor for A Real Pain.
French filmmaker Jacques Audiard accepted one of Emilia Perez’s 11 awards (Picture: Stuart Wilson/Bafta/Getty Images for Bafta) The director said he was ‘touched’ to be honoured by the prestigious ceremony (Picture: Ben Stanstall/AFP via Getty Images) Karla Sofia Gascon received a sweet shoutout at this year’s Baftas, despite her noticeable absence (Picture: Netflix/Avalon)Accepting Emilia Pérez’s first gong of the night, French filmmaker Audiard took to the stage to collect best film not in the English language.
Accepting the prize, he said he was ‘touched’, adding that the award ‘was for everyone who worked tirelessly on this film’.
He also paid tribute to his fellow nominees from Ireland’s Kneecap and Brazil’s I’m Not There.
Audiard added that ‘he would like to thank the wonderful talents’, and also named his ‘dear Zoe (Saldana) and Selena’.
He went on to name Spanish actress Gascon, whom he also called ‘dear’.
Elsewhere in the ceremony, US actresses Gomez and Saldana presented the outstanding debut by a British writer, director, and producer to Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt.
The presentation didn’t go without a hitch, though, as Gomez appeared to stumble, pausing for a moment, before announcing the winner.
Gascon has been criticised for making divisive comments in old tweets (Picture: Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images)
