Karla Sofía Gascón says she is ‘less racist than Gandhi’ on return to public eye

Actor suggests she may have been intentionally smeared but no one has to forgive me' after recent controversy

Karla Sofia Gascon has described herself as less racist than Gandhi" and insisted no one has to forgive me for anything" as she returns to the public eye after the emergence of offensive social media posts widely thought to have torpedoed the Oscar hopes of her film Emilia Perez.

The Spanish performer, who became the first transgender woman to be nominated for a best actress Oscar, was dropped from the film's campaigning materials by its studio, Netflix, and criticised by colleagues and prominent politicians after the series of old racist and Islamophobic tweets came to light.