Angelica Ross is shedding light on her experience working on “American Horror Story,” including alleged transphobic comments made by her “AHS: 1984” co-star Emma Roberts, while also calling out series creator Ryan Murphy for “leaving her on read.”
The “Pose” actress appeared in multiple seasons of the FX anthology series, specifically its 9th and 10th installments. The experience, Ross revealed in a recent Instagram live, was not the most positive, as the actress claims Roberts made a transphobic remark directed at her.
In the Instagram Live, Ross recalled filming a scene where in between takes Roberts jokingly said, “Angelica is being mean,” while speaking to the episode’s director. When the director told the actresses “OK, ladies, you know, that’s enough. Let’s get back to work,” Ross said Roberts looked at her and said, “Don’t you mean lady?” purposefully misgendering Ross.
As Variety reported, Ross broke down how she felt in that moment in the Instagram Live, saying, “I’m standing there, she walked away, my blood is boiling. Boiling because I’m like, if I say something, it’s gonna be me that’s the problem.” Ross revealed that she did not speak to Roberts for the rest of the filming of the series.
Hours later on Wednesday, Ross took to X (formerly known as Twitter), revealing that Roberts called her and apologized. “Thank you @RobertsEmma for calling and apologizing, recognizing your behavior was not that of an ally,” Ross wrote. “I will leave the line open to follow up on your desire to do better and support social justice causes with your platform.”
The Roberts story comes after Ross took to X with more revelations regarding her “AHS” experience, specifically calling out the series creator and her frequent collaborator, Ryan Murphy, for ghosting her after she pitched an all-Black female-led “AHS” season. Inspired after reading “The Other Black Girl” by Zakiya Dalila Harris, she shared a screenshot of an email exchange between her and Murphy in 2020, in which Murphy told her, “Remember your idea about a HORROR seasons starring Black women? Well I’m doing it.”
“Not sure of the story yet, but we will start a writers room in the fall,” he continued. “Along with you, who are the four women I should get,” before citing Ross, Keke Palmer and Gabourey Sidibe. Ross then posted her enthusiastic response to Murphy, suggesting Debbi Morgan, Lynn Whitfield and Alfre Woodard, among a few other Black actresses. Ross revealed however that she never heard from Murphy following that exchange, and even followed up with flowers and an email in 2023, with no response.
Ross explained that the lack of communication affected her career, as she was in talks with Marvel for a role but could not confirm her availability without knowing her status with FX and Murphy. She wrote in an X post, “It’s that I called business affairs for MONTHS trying to get clarity if they were picking up my contract option or if I was ok to tell Marvel that I was available for whatever they were calling me for. I had been auditioning for THREE YEARS for marvel.”
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