Angelica Ross continues to pull back the curtain on Ryan Murphy’s television empire in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. This comes after Ross alleged Murphy strung her along about a continued role in American Horror Story and blocked her from working on a Marvel project, as well as accusing co-star Emma Roberts of transphobia. In the interview, she elaborates on these allegations as well as the general atmosphere on Murphy’s productions: “There would be so much chaos going on because on a Ryan Murphy set, there is sure to be chaos.”
Regarding Emma Roberts and other white co-stars, “Sometimes I didn’t know if I was watching a mean girl or if I was just watching a woman standing up for herself,” Ross says. Since Murphy wasn’t present on the set of AHS, Ross perceived Roberts to be the “boss” and witnessed her belittle others, including director John Gray. (“[She] says to him, ‘What are you going to do about it, John? You’re going to cry about it? Waaah. John’s not getting his way.’”) Ross details some of the phone call apology she received from Roberts earlier this week, which she describes as a “bumpy conversation.” Roberts claimed to be an ally and said she sees the great advocacy work Ross has done: “And I said, ‘Oh, so you see me? You see me talking about the anti-Blackness? Are you using your platform to amplify the work that I’m doing? No, you haven’t. So what kind of ally are you?’” Ross recalls. “She was like, ‘Well, OK. There’s more to be said there. I would love to support causes that you support.’”
As for Murphy, some of the trouble between them has to do with the handling of a crew member wearing what Ross describes as “racist” shirts on the set of AHS (“BUILD THAT WALL,” “I DON’T KNEEL” and the like). Ross and Murphy clashed when Ross felt producers weren’t handling the situation and “silenced” her for speaking out. Ross claims Murphy responded aggressively, cussing her out while professing to be her champion (another AHS producer denies this version of events). Ultimately, she says, Murphy apologized and said, “I understand the work you’re doing, and I want to be your biggest champion.”
However, Ross suspects the relationship was damaged beyond repair because she never “completely disowned Janet Mock after what she did in season 3 at the Pose premiere.” (Mock gave a fiery speech that took shots at Murphy and all of Hollywood.) Ross says she hasn’t heard from the television mogul since July 2020, and only found out she wouldn’t be in the upcoming season of American Horror Story when she called business affairs and they couldn’t find a contract for her. “It made me realize he thought that he can just kind of control my life like an on-and-off switch.”
Now, she’s decided to move to Georgia and prepare to run for office. “So I’m fully walking away from Hollywood. But I’m always going to be who I am,” she says. “You don’t have to be on TV to be a creative person, to live a creative life.” You can read the full interview here.
