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Angelica Ross Says Ryan Murphy Ghosted Her Over AHS Season Idea
Ross shared emails about plans for a Black women-centric season of American Horror Story.
Apparently, we almost had a season of American Horror Story focused around Black women, but Angelica Ross says Ryan Murphy dropped the ball—so now she’s sharing the receipts.
The actress, who previously appeared in seasons 9 and 10 of the anthology series, as well as Pose (which was co-created by Murphy), posted emails between her and the prolific TV creator on Tuesday about the potential series.
Dated July 3, 2020, the first email allegedly from Murphy acknowledges that a season centered around Black women was Ross’s idea, and states definitively “Well I’m doing it.”
“Not sure of the story yet, but we will start a writers room in the fall,” he wrote. “Along with you, who are the four women I should get? I think you, Keke Palmer, Gabby…not sure of the fourth?”
Ross wrote back the same day, clearly excited and eager to offer suggestions of other Black actresses that would be a great addition to the show.
It’s unclear when exactly communications broke down, but Ross says she stopped hearing back from Murphy about the show, despite being held in first position—meaning she was contractually obligated to stay with the show if it went anywhere, hindering her chances of taking other work. In fact, as it turns out, this was reportedly the reason for Ross not being able to work on a Marvel project, something she had spoken about earlier this summer in relation to the ongoing WGA and SAG strikes.
The actress says she sent one final email to Murphy about the project in February 2022 and “[hasn’t] heard from him since.”
While it’s extremely disappointing to learn we could have had a Black woman-led season of American Horror Story instead of the upcoming baby-centric season that involved crossing picket lines to complete production, Ross stressed that “[ideas] change all the time,” and that it was really the disrespect that was most frustrating.
“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,” she wrote. “I had been auditioning for THREE YEARS for marvel. It’s that I was HELD in first position the whole time.”
This may not be the end of Ross’s airing out her grievances over her time on American Horror Story, as she also alluded to a less than ideal working environment where transphobic and racist comments were allowed on set.
“We on strike so you know I got time this week,” she said.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
