Megyn Kelly has lashed out in an explosive rant against Emilia Perez's transgender star, who made history as the first openly trans performer ever nominated for the Oscars Best Actress Award.
Kelly argued on her show Thursday that Hollywood remains out of touch with the American people as she explained her stance on why Karla Sofia Gascon should not receive the highly tied award.
“Among the people nominated for best actress is a man – a man I'm telling you,” the podcaster said, referring to Gascon by her birth gender.
'He used to be known until he was in his late 40s as Carlos Gascon. He goes by Karla Sofia Gascon; He is 52 years old and passed over in 2016 – so-called menopause. '
She went on to say that the film's premise is “tailor-made for awards in Hollywood” and called out the actress' Golden Globes speech.
“He called on trans people to stand up against bigotry, and now he's nominated,” Kelly said.
“He has taken one of the five coveted spots for the best actress – best actress,” she repeated, emphasizing the name of the award.
Kelly then seemed to suggest that major actresses have only to blame, as she played a clip from the film that showed actress Zoe Saldana asking about sexual reassignment surgeries.
Megyn Kelly went on an explosive rant against Emilia Perez's transgender star
Karla Sofía Gascón has been included in Oscar's leading actress category
Kelly argued on her show Thursday that 52-year-old Spanish actress Karla Sofia Gascon should not receive the highly tied prize for the musical about a brutal cartel leader who tries to fake her death so she can finally live life as a woman
“My fundamental take is that all Hollywood women deserve this and I have no sympathy for them,” she said.
The musical tells the story of a brutal cartel leader who tries to fake her death so she can finally live life as a woman.
On Kelly's show, guests ruthlessly chimed in on her thoughts, joking about the film's premise: “I love the idea of a transitional cartel boss, I'd like to know how that turned out as in the meeting…” I wants to be a woman. '”
The popular news host said it was clear that “Hollyweird” has not received the message that the American people feel efforts to accommodate “the transgender” have gone too far.
“A clear message has been sent, not just by Republicans, but by Democrats as well,” Kelly said.
“Hollyweird did not receive the said message because the Oscar nominations came out today and among the people nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role is a man.”
She noted that Conclave was also recognized – a film that Kelly previously said “mocks Catholics.”
“So you can see exactly what the Oscars is doing. This is the night to stand up and celebrate how much they hate Catholics, how much they believe men can become women, and how much they hate Donald Trump — whether they say it explicitly or not. '
Gascon is up against Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Mikey Madison (Anora), Demi Moore (The Substance) and Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here) for best actress.
She previously became the first trans actress to earn a nomination at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards, where she accepted the award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
“Thank you so much,” Gascon said in her acceptance speech, wearing a bright yellow and orange dress.
'I chose these colors tonight because I have a message. Light always wins over darkness.
Gascon accepted the award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes
Major female players in Hollywood have previously defended the controversial film
“I have many things to say to you, because you may put us in jail, you may beat us up, but you can never take away our soul, our existence, our identity,” she added of transgender people.
“I want to tell you, raise your voice. And say, I am who I am. Know who you are. Thank you so much.'
The film had also won awards for International Feature, Makeup and Hairstyle, Sound, Original Score and Original Song for two of its musical numbers.
Emilia Perez also won the jury prize and the best actress prize for an ensemble on 2024 Cannes Film Festivalwhere it won the Jury Prize and the first Best Actress award for an ensemble.
Now the film, which also stars Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez, is up for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress for Saldana, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best International Feature at the Oscars, which airs March 2.
Major female players in Hollywood have previously been supportive of the controversial film, with Meryl Streep praising the film and Gomez's performance in particular, describing it as “beautiful, smudged, sensual, incredible.”
Critics have also fallen over themselves to post the most glowing reviews with glowing think pieces praising its courage in focusing on underrepresented characters and delivering “provocative” subject matter through a musical genre.
Beneath the hype, however, is criticism of the portrayal of a trans woman.
Harron Walker for the cut led the charge, writing, “I don't demand total realism from every movie I see. I can even appreciate the camp, intentional or not, that Emilia wakes up from her 5 million simultaneous operations, her face bandaged like a mummy, except for her eyes and lips. '
'But I expect that a filmmaker so taken by the concept of transition, one who has shown some level of conscious sensitivity in his previous efforts to depict lives unlike his own, would at least have an informed understanding of how that concept actually looks like in practice.'
