Angelica Ross alleges "American Horror Story" co-star Emma Roberts misgendered her

Ross claims the incident occurred during production of "American Horror Story: 1984"

By Nardos Haile

Staff Writer

Published September 20, 2023 3:42PM (EDT)

Angelica Ross as Nurse Rita in "American Horror Story: 1984" (Kurt Iswarienko / FX)
Angelica Ross as Nurse Rita in "American Horror Story: 1984" (Kurt Iswarienko / FX)

"American Horror Story" and "Pose" actress Angelica Ross alleged Tuesday on an Instagram live that co-star Emma Roberts was transphobic to her on the set of "American Horror Story: 1984."

Ross said that behind the scenes, Ross, Roberts and the episode's director were having a conversation in which Robert told the director in a light tone that Ross was being mean to her. Ross recalled that the director said, "OK ladies, that's enough. Let's get back to work," to which Roberts allegedly replied back, "Don't you mean lady?" Insinuating that Ross, who is a trans woman, is not a woman.

Following the alleged incident, Ross said that she did not speak to Roberts for the rest of the time they filmed together. Ross said that her "blood [was] boiling because I'm like, 'If I say something, it's going to be me that's the problem.' I know this because there was someone who spoke up about what she was doing, and they got repercussions from it. Not her, they did."

After Ross's statements went viral, she tweeted on Wednesday that Roberts had apologized: "Thank you @RobertsEmma for calling and apologizing, recognizing your behavior was not that of an ally. I will leave the line open to follow up on your desire to do better and support social justice causes with your platform."

Also, Ross also alleged that Roberts created a tense environment on set by playing mind games with people on set. "Folks seemed like they wanted to fight her all the time because she was playing psychological games on set."


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