Following a response from Selena Gomez, Eugenio Derbez is walking back his criticism of her performance in Emilia Perez with a heartfelt apology.
The 2x Emmy nominee, who previously deemed Gomez “indefensible,” ate his words after she commented on the clip that she “did the best I could with the time I was given.”
“I truly apologize for my careless comments—they are indefensible and go against everything I stand for,” he shared on TikTok. “As Latinos, we should always support one another. There’s no excuse. I was wrong, and I deeply admire your career and your kind heart.
“Emilia Pérez deserves to be celebrated, not diminished by my thoughtless remarks. I’m walking away from this with an important lesson learned. While I understand if you cannot accept my apology, please know it comes from the heart. With all my love and admiration, Eugenio Derbez.”
During his appearance on the Talking about Cinema podcast, Derbez said of the film, “Selena is indefensible. I [watched the film] with people, and every time she had a scene, we looked at each other to say to each other, ‘Wow, what is this?’”
Podcast host Gaby Meza admitted that Gomez is “a very talented actress,” noting, “but Spanish is not her main language, not her secondary or fifth language. And that’s why I feel like she doesn’t know what she’s saying. If she doesn’t know what she’s saying, she can’t give her acting any nuance.”
“I’m glad you’re saying it because I said, ‘Why is no one talking about that?’” said Derbez.
Gomez, who is not fluent in Spanish but spoke it in the film, wrote: “I understand where you are coming from. I’m sorry I did the best I could with the time I was given. Doesn’t take away from how much work and heart I put into this movie.”
Emilia Perez is a musical crime drama written and directed by Jacques Audiard. The film stars Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Adriána Paz, Mark Ivanir and Edgar Ramírez. Gascón plays a cartel leader who enlists a lawyer to help her disappear and transition into a woman.
