Eugenio Derbez has apologised to Selena Gomez for criticising her Spanish in the film Emilia Pérez.

The Mexican actor offered up an apology on TikTok for calling the Only Murders in the Building star’s Spanish dialogue in Jacques Audiard’s musical crime film “indefensible”.

“I truly apologize for my careless comments – they are indefensible and go against everything I stand for,” he wrote. “As Latinos, we should always support one another. There’s no excuse. I was wrong, and I deeply admire your career and your kind heart.

“Emilia Pérez deserves to be celebrated, not diminished by my thoughtless remarks. I’m walking away from this with an important lesson learned. While I understand if you cannot accept my apology, please know it comes from the heart. With all my love and admiration, Eugenio Derbez.”

Emilia Pérez, which is set in Mexico, tells the story of a cartel boss who leaves his old life behind and transitions into a woman. Gomez plays the cartel leader’s wife Jessie alongside Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón.

Derbez criticised Gomez’s Spanish on the Hablando de Cine Con podcast, in which he said, “Selena is indefensible. I (watched the film) with people, and every time she had a scene, we looked at each other to say to each other, ‘Wow, what is this?'”

The Spring Breakers star replied in a TikTok comment, writing, “I understand where you are coming from. 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.”

During the press tour for the film, Gomez, who has a Mexican father, explained that she spoke Spanish as a child but eventually lost her fluency. She re-learned the language for the role.

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