The mostly Spanish-language musical tells the story of a Mexican drug cartel boss who transitions to life as a woman and turns her back on crime.

Before the scandal broke, the film earned 13 Oscar nods, picked up four Golden Globes in January and won multiple prizes at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

However, old social media posts by star Karla Sofia Gascon, in which she denigrates Islam, China and African American George Floyd, unleashed a scandal that has harmed her reputation and the film.

Voting for the Goya awards closed on Jan 24, days before the posts were uncovered.

Spaniard Gascon, the first transgender woman nominated for an Oscar for best actress, has apologised for her posts and distanced herself from publicity for the film.

She lives near the Spanish capital Madrid but did not attend the Goya awards ceremony in Granada.

The film’s French director Jacques Audiard has called the posts “inexcusable” and “absolutely hateful”.