Eugenio Derbez Apologizes to Selena Gomez After 'Emilia Pérez' Criticism

Eugenio Derbez is walking back his harsh criticism of Selena Gomez's performance in Netflix's new musical movie, "Emilia Pérez" ... issuing a formal apology to the actress.

ICYMI ... the "CODA" star recently appeared on the Spanish language podcast "Hablando de Cine," where he ripped into Selena's attempt at speaking Spanish in the movie -- calling it in "indefensible."

Selena, who is not a native speaker of Spanish, responded to Eugenio's criticism ... and surprisingly offered up an apology. She wrote on TikTok ... "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.”

The actress' humble response clearly made its way back to Eugenio, who has since served up his own mea culpa.

In a letter uploaded to TikTok, Eugenio called his remarks on the podcast "careless" and "indefensible."

He added ... "[They] go against everything I stand for. 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."

As Eugenio continued, he defended that "Emilia Pérez" should be celebrated and hoped his unkind words didn't diminish the film's success.

While Eugenio may not have been a fan of the movie at first, the Jacques Audiard-directed flick is already getting quite a bit of awards chatter -- some even for Selena.

In fact, just last week, Selena took home the Spotlight Award at the IndieWire Honors for her work in "Emilia Pérez."