Lisa, Doja Cat, and Raye performing at the Oscars is Karla Sofía Gascón’s worst nightmare

The Academy has confirmed the first set of performers taking the Dolby Theatre stage on Sunday and one trio seems almost cherry-picked to aggravate Best Actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón. The Spanish actress was caught in serious controversy last month when heaps of her hateful X posts were unearthed, including one where she seemingly complained about previous Oscar winners, Judas and the Black Messiah‘s Daniel Kaluuya and Minari‘s Yuh-jung Youn.

In a comment criticizing the 2021 Academy Awards ceremony, Gascón said she couldn’t tell whether she was watching the Oscars or an “Afro-Korean festival.”

More and more the #Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films, I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M [a Spanish way of referring to International Women’s Day]. Apart from that, an ugly, ugly gala.”

So, when the ceremony producers announced that K-Pop star Lisa and her “Born Again” collaborators Doja Cat and Raye, who are both Black, were joining the ceremony for a special performance, the joke nearly wrote itself. In fairness, Lisa, whose acting career is currently taking flight with a starring role in HBO’s White Lotus, is Thai, though she’s famous for being a part of the infamous Korean idol system as one-fourth of the girl band Blackpink.

“They did this for our racist mother Karla Sofía Gascón! They said here’s the Afro-Korean Festival you ordered!” one X user quipped. For reference, the actress’s multiple angry posts also hit out at Muslims, Chinese people, and George Floyd. They were first brought onto everyone’s radar by Variety, shortly after the Emilia Pérez star said the team of Best Actress, Best International Film and Best Picture nominee I’m Still Here was targeting her on social media.

Though there was a possibility Gascón could skip the Oscars after missing the BAFTAs for which she was also nominated, Variety confirmed Monday that she would be present (and forced to watch Lisa, Doja Cat, and Raye’s performance). “Karla Sofía Gascón really gonna be in attendance at the Afro-Korean festival, I can’t help but laugh,” offered another commentator.

According to Variety’s source, Emilia Pérez distributor Netflix is footing the bill for Gáscon’s appearance. Plans are still being hashed out regarding her availability for interviews, to walk the red carpet, and even to sit next to the film’s director Jacques Audiard, and co-stars Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez.

Once a front-runner in most of the categories it was nominated for after landing a whopping 11 nods, Emilia Pérez is now expected to walk home with just the one win for Saldaña in the Best Supporting Actress group. The Avatar actress has won every precursor award in the lead-up to the Oscars, including the Golden Globe and the SAG award.

The wind behind the film’s sails died down significantly after Gáscon’s behavior, which Audiard described as “self-destructive.” However, the director is not without fault for the general dislike of Emilia Pérez. He’s also been accused by Mexican audiences of presenting harmful stereotypes in his film and not dedicating enough time to learning about the communities he claims to be uplifting.

As for Lisa, Doja Cat, and Raye’s performance, the Academy has confirmed that they won’t be singing their hit song “Born Again” but rather providing “a showstopping celebration of cinema.” Wicked‘s Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have also been confirmed to perform. The 97th Academy Awards air Sunday, Mar. 2 on ABC.