Karla Sofía Gascón's reaction to Conan O'Brien's bold Oscars roast — a body language expert weighs in

When Conan O'Brien took aim at Karla Sofía Gascón during the Oscars 2025,  she appeared to take it all in her stride.

The Emilia Perez star has been accused of racism and Islamophobia after several of her social media posts resurfaced.

Conan seized the opportunity to grill the Best Actress nominee in front of the A-list audience.

He said: "Anora uses the 'F-word' 479 times. That's three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist."

Conan continued:  "Karla Sofía Gascón is here tonight – and Karla, if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, my name is Jimmy Kimmel."

© Netflix

The cameras panned round to Karla who smiled gingerly and at one point raised her hands in a praying gesture. She also turned to speak to her seat mate. But body language expert Inbaal Honigman, tells HELLO! via Covers.com that Karla's response was telling.

"When Conan O’Brien jokes about Karla Sofía Gascón in his opening monologue, her reaction is bemused rather than amused," she said. "She juts her chin which is a sign of defiance showing that she won’t apologize for anything he’s referencing.

© Disney

"As Conan O’Brien delivers his joke, a small, closed-mouth smile plays on Karla Sofía Gascón’s lips. It shows she is happy to be there but doesn’t find the joke particularly funny."

Inbaal then referenced seeing Karla express true joy when El Mal was announced as the winner of Best Original Song.  

"Her reaction is entirely different, she smiles fully, teeth showing, radiating pride in the film’s success," she continued.

 "During the Best Actress announcement, she and fellow nominee Fernanda Torres immediately start clapping, their bright smiles showing genuine happiness for Mikey Madison."

© Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

Karla was the first openly transgender woman nominated for Best Actress. Her controversial past comments have lead to her being mostly absent from the awards season celebrations. 

Industry insiders believe the uproar surrounding her social media messages likely hindered her chances of winning an Academy Award. Netflix distanced itself from the star and reportedly removed her face from promotional material for the movie. 

Emilia Perez still won large though with El Mal's win and Zoe Saldana walking away with Best Supporting Actress.