Selena Gomez Admits ‘Some of the Magic Has Disappeared’ Amid ‘Emilia Pérez’ Drama

Actress Selena Gomez weighed in on the “Emilia Pérez” controversy, saying she’s glad she made the film but admitted that some of the “magic” is now gone due to all the backlash.

The film was flying high with 13 Oscar nominations – the most of any project this year – before controversial tweets made by the lead actor resurfaced, causing many fans and industry members to turn on the Academy Awards’ first trans-identified male Best Actress nominee, Karla Sofía Gascón.

“Some of the magic has disappeared,” Gomez said of the aftermath of the controversy while speaking at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, per Variety. “But I choose to continue to be proud of what I’ve done and I’m just grateful. I live with no regrets, and I would do this movie over and over again if I could.”

“Just having someone see something in me besides the obvious was such a special experience,” the actress added. “The director [Jacques Audiard] just really trusted me, and I was so grateful because I’ve gotten to show people that I am capable of doing more. I hope this is just the beginning for me in this field.”

Meanwhile, Audiard has distanced himself from Gascón since the tweets went viral. The director responded to a question about the tweets, saying they are “taking up all the space” in the conversations about the transgender musical drama “Emilia Pérez” and that it makes him “very sad.”

“It’s very hard for me to think back to the work I did with Karla Sofía,” Audiard told Deadline earlier this month, as The Daily Wire previously reported. “The trust we shared, the exceptional atmosphere that we had on the set that was indeed based on trust. And when you have that kind of relationship and suddenly you read something that that person has said, things that are absolutely hateful and worthy of being hated, of course that relationship is affected. It’s as if you fall into a hole. Because what Karla Sofía said is inexcusable.”

The film director also confirmed he hasn’t spoken to Gascón since the news broke. 

The tweets in question include critical statements on Muslims and George Floyd, to name a few. The Golden Globe-winning actor has made multiple apologies, but is still being ostracized in Hollywood.