Selena Gomez Defends Herself After Eugenio Derbez Criticizes Her Spanish inEmilia Pérez: 'Did the Best I Could'

Mar. 15, 2025

Selena Gomez; Eugenio Derbez.Photo:Getty(2)

Getty(2)

The singer and actress, 32, responded to criticism she received fromEugenio Derbezabout her Spanish-speaking role in the acclaimed musical drama.

Selena Gomez as Jessi in ‘Emilia Pérez’.Shanna Besson/Pathé

Shanna Besson/Pathé

“I understand where you are coming from,” theOnly Murders in the Buildingstar wrote in the comment section of the TikTok post, addressing the criticism. “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 Pérezreceived early acclaim in the awards season amid its Netflix debut in November. The movie has been named one of American Film Institute’s top 10 films of the year and nabbed three wins at the Cannes Film Festival afterits world premiere— including a best actress nod for Gomez, along with costarsKarla Sofía Gascón, Adriana Paz andZoe Saldaña.

Selena Gomez’s comment on the TikTok video.tiktok

tiktok

Derbez agreed, adding, “I’m glad you’re saying that because I was saying, ‘I can’t believe no one is talking about it?’ "

Derbez said he doesn’t agree with the award buzz that Gomez and the movie has generated, and believes it has only been well-received because the audience doesn’t speak Spanish.

“I feel like what happens is they don’t speak Spanish,” he said of the audience. “If you watch a Russian film or a German film that is subtitled in Spanish and you see someone [speaking in the original language], you say, ‘Oh, look. Okay. How interesting.’ "

Eugenio Derbez.David Becker/Getty Images

Furthermore, theCODAactor criticized the movie’s French director, Jacques Audiard, for also not speaking the language.

“I liked the film apart from Selena’s [scenes] that jump at you because it has manageable things,” he said. “But I was saying, ‘How strange, because if the director doesn’t speak English or Spanish and the movie is in Spanish and English, and it takes place in Mexico and you don’t understand the culture.’ It’s like if I wanted to make a film in Russian without knowing the culture or Russian and speaking in French.”

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In November, Gomez said shespent six months taking Spanish lessonsto prepare for the role as she lost the ability to speak the language fluently after moving to California at a young age to pursue an entertainment career.

“I got my first job at 7, and most of my jobs from that point on were English,” she said onNPR’sFresh Air. “And I just lost [my Spanish]. That’s kind of the case for a lot of people, especially Mexican American people.”

She continued, “I wish I just knew a lot more than I do. But I think that’s why I try to honor my culture as much as possible — from releasing an album in Spanish to wanting to pursue this movie. And I don’t think it’ll be the last thing I do in Spanish.”

Emilia Pérezfollows high-powered lawyer Rita (Saldaña), who helps a Mexican cartel leader (Gascón) fake their death and transition into a woman — later known as Emilia. In it, Gomez plays Emilia’s wife.

source: people.com