Working on the set of AHS: 1984, the ninth season of the Ryan Murphy horror anthology series, was supposed to be a toxic place. Angelica Ross, who played Nurse Rita, called out American Horror Story veteran Emma Roberts for being a perpetrator of that hostility, specifically when it came to her transphobic behavior.
Angelica Ross Goes Live to Call Out Emma Roberts Being Transphobic on American Horror Story
On a livestream on Instagram (saved and shared on X from user Mamia), Angelica Ross recalled the toxicity when working on the ninth season of American Horror Story with a story about Emma Roberts being transphobic. They were having a seemingly playful moment. When an unknown person on set named John referred to them as “ladies,” the Scream alum remarked that the word should be singular, referring to her being cis and her co-star being transgender.
“She’s just being whatever,” said Ross, who is transgender. “And John is like, ‘OK, ladies, you know, that’s enough. Let’s get back to work.’ And she then looks at me, and she goes, ‘Don’t you mean lady?’ And she turned around like this [Ross turns around with her shirt covering her mouth for an example] and covers her mouth [with her shirt], but can’t see that I’m looking at her, like, ‘What the f–k did you just say?'”
Angelica Ross on Instragram LiveIn response to the transphobic incident, Angelica Ross did not speak to her co-star during the rest of the shoot. When asked if she was doing okay by her co-star, Ross gave a passive “Mmhmm.”
Although not all details were said, other incidents were referenced that hinted at the set’s overall environment. Angelica Ross said her American Horror Story co-star had been “playing mind games” with people. When one person reported the hostility, they were the ones to be reprimanded, leading to the silence on the misgendering that Ross faced on set until she went live on Instagram.
Whether it was intentional or not, the timing of the story about the hostile environment came right in as season 12 debuted today, subtitled Delicate. While the Scream 4 star returns to join Kim Kardashian, the Pose star has not returned since season 10, Double Feature.
Toxicity on the set of a Ryan Murphy show has been documented before Angelica Ross recalled her experience on the ninth season of American Horror Story. Dahmer was supposed to be a racist set, according to crew member Kim Alsup, who was one of two Black crew members. To the Los Angeles Times, she called it “one of the worst shows” that she had been on.
As of writing, Emma Roberts has not responded to the accusations.
