Selena Gomez recently had to stand up for her Spanish skills after a clip went viral where Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez called out her accent and performance in the Netflix movie Emilia Perez. The 32-year-old actress shared her thoughts on social media Saturday night, responding to the criticism that came after the film dropped last month.

Derbez takes a jab at Gomez's Spanish accent.

Derbez recently joined a Spanish podcast called Hablando de Cine, where he talked about the singer's accent in the film ‘indefensible’. In the movie, Gomez plays Jessi Del Monte, the wife of a Mexican drug cartel leader. Although Jessi is originally from America, she speaks Spanish throughout the film. Having previously escaped to Switzerland, her accent and Spanish delivery might be influenced by that background.

During the podcast, Derbez shared, “I [watched the film] with others, and every time she was on screen, we exchanged looks like, ‘Wow, what’s going on here?’” as reported by Daily Mail.

The podcast host, Gaby Meza, praised the Same Old Love singer as “a very talented actress” with several nominations under her belt. However, she echoed Derbez's concerns about Gomez's accent, attributing it to her being a native English speaker. Meza remarked, “Spanish isn’t her first language, or even her second or fifth. That’s why I think she struggles to convey what she’s saying. If she doesn’t fully understand it, her acting lacks depth.”

Sharing a high five with Meza, the 63-year-old actor expressed his relief, saying, “I’m glad you brought that up because I was wondering, ‘Why is no one mentioning this?’” He pondered why similar critiques aren’t made in America, offering his take. Derbez noted, “I think it’s because they don’t speak Spanish. If you watch a Russian or German film with Spanish subtitles and see someone speaking in their native language, you think, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’”

He suggested that audiences who don’t speak Spanish might miss the nuances in Gomez's performance since they rely on subtitles while watching Emilia Perez and don’t fully understand the language.

He joked, “I thought it was a pretty intriguing experiment. Isn’t it funny that a director… I enjoyed the film, except for the Selena [scenes] that really stand out, because there are some redeeming qualities. But I found myself thinking, ‘How strange that the director doesn’t know English or Spanish, yet the movie is in both languages, set in Mexico, and they don’t get the culture.’” The actor continued, “It’s like if I tried to make a movie in Russian without understanding the culture or speaking the language, and then spoke in French.”

Gomez hits back at Debrez’s criticism.

The singer addressed the criticism about her Spanish accent from Derbez. In the comments of a TikTok video featuring his remarks, Gomez said, “I get where you’re coming from. I’m sorry; I did my best with the time I had. That doesn’t change how much effort and passion I put into this film.”

On a different note, in October, Derbez was spotted with Gomez at a screening of Emilia Perez during the New York Film Festival. Despite his previous comments, he posted a photo on his Instagram, calling the film a "great movie!" and tagging Gomez along with other cast members.

He captioned it, “I had the chance to watch #EmiliaPerez. Great movie! Huge thanks to @adytapaz for the invite! Mexican Pride!!!”

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