Karla Sofía Gascón Takes to Insta, Riffs on Oscar Host Conan O'Brien's Joke

It was a joke that played on the controversy around "Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón in the gentlest way when Oscars host Conan O'Brien acknowledged the embattled actress from the stage, saying, "Karla, if you are gonna tweet about the Oscars, remember: My name is Jimmy Kimmel."

It was a gag that Gascón was only too happy to follow up on. Variety reported that the actress took to social media – Instagram, this time – to send out the upbeat message, "Thanks to the members of [the Academy] for the nomination as best leading actress, for the invitation to the gala; I really liked it, very entertaining and fun, especially its fabulous presenter Jimmy Kimmel, he is fantastic, every day he looks more like the great Conan O'Brien."

"Emilia Pérez" entered the evening with 13 nominations, including for Best Picture, Best Director for Jacques Audiard, and Best Actress for Gascón's performance. In the end, the film walked away with only two statuettes, one of which was for Gascón's co-star, Zoe Saldaña in the Best Supporting Actress category. (The other was for Best Original Song, a ditty titled "El Mal" that was written by Clément Ducol, Camille, and Audiard.)

It was a spectacular reversal for a film that only weeks before had been riding high – maybe the most startling crash since "Brokeback Mountain" lost Best Picture to, well, "Crash" in the 2006 edition of the awards.

While that infamous result can arguably be blamed on homophobia (and has), the nominations ballot success of "Emilia Pérez" was historic for the opposite reason, with the movie telling the story of a fictitious Mexican drug lord who fakes her own death in order to transition and live as her true gender. Gascón, too, made history as the first openly transgender person to be nominated in a performance category.

But the film's prospects dimmed considerably between when the nominations were announced and the March 2 ceremony due to the resurfacing of years-old tweets Gascón had made that many deemed offensive.

"Gascón kept a low profile after the controversy, choosing not to attend the SAG Awards last weekend and skipping the Oscars red carpet on Sunday," The Hollywood Reporter recounted.

"At the Cesar Awards in France last Friday, she told The Hollywood Reporter she was 'grateful to be back' and 'grateful to all those who've believed in me – to Netflix, the production company and my colleagues. We can close this beautiful and difficult path that began three years ago,'" THR went on to add.

In the end, Gascón lost to Mikey Madison for her turn in "Anora" – a film that made a sweep along the lines of what had once seemed possible for the musical trans drama. "Anora" claimed five of the six Oscars for which it had been nominated, with the Best Director statuette going to Sean Baker while the gold for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing also went to Baker's story about a sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch meeting cute in New York City.

Watch Conan O'Brien's opening Oscars monologue below.