Karla Sofía Gascón may have single-handedly prevented Netflix from winning what would have been its first Best Picture Oscar this year after the trans actress’ racist tweets went viral. But CEO Ted Sarandos says he would work with her again. “You have to have some grace when people make mistakes, and we have grace,” he said in a new interview with Varietyto mark his 25-year anniversary with the streamer. Sarandos also pushed back on the hypothetical suggestion that the film would have won but for the scandal. “I hate that question, because it creates all of these what-if’s,” he said. “It was the frontrunner, but it was never a slam dunk that Emilia Pérez—with all its innovation and thrills—would win best picture.” As for how the company plans to vet the social media accounts of its talent moving forward, Sarandos added, “What we’re typically vetting for is mostly headlines. Did someone’s social media stuff create headlines before? Then again, I’m not on Twitter, so I’m not going to come in and look at someone else’s Twitter.”
