Zoe Saldaña apologises after ‘many Mexicans felt offended’ by Emilia Pérez

Saldaña, who stars in the musical alongside Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez, assured that she and her team “spoke from a place of love.”

Zoe Saldaña issued an apology following her Oscars 2025 win to Mexicans who “felt offended” by Emilia Pérez. After securing the Best Supporting Actress honour on Sunday, the 46-year-old responded to criticism from a journalist who said that the drama film had been “hurtful for us Mexicans.”

US actress Zoe Saldana poses with the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for "Emilia Perez" as she attends the Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, on March 2, 2025. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP)(AFP)

Zoe Saldaña apologises after Oscars win to Mexicans who ‘felt offended’ by Emilia Pérez.

The Avatar actress began by saying, “First of all, I’m very, very sorry that many Mexicans felt offended,” adding that it was “never our intention,” Variety reported.

Saldaña, who stars in the musical alongside Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez, assured that she and her team “spoke from a place of love.”

“I don’t share your opinion,” Saldaña went on, explaining that for her, the “heart” of the film was “not Mexico.” “We were making a film about friendship,” she said. “We were making a film about four women,” the Star Trek star added, per the outlet.

Saldaña continued to say, “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 are still very universal women that are struggling every day, but trying to survive systemic oppression and trying to find the most authentic voices,” the Colombiana actress went on.

Saldaña asserted that she will “stand by” her views. However, she would be open to talking about the film with Mexicans to better understand their concerns.

“I’m also always open to sit down with all of my Mexican brothers and sisters, with love and respect, [to have] a great conversation on how ‘Emilia Pérez’ could have been done better. I welcome it,” she added.