Today the LGBTQIA+ community and Hollywood at large have been rocked by explosive allegations against actor Emma Roberts who has been accused of making transphobic comments. Angelica Ross called out her former American Horror Story co-star citing an incident on set whereby Roberts allegedly made discriminatory comments towards her. Apparently, a cast member said, “OK, ladies, you know, that’s enough. Let’s get back to work.”
In response Roberts allegedly responsed “Don’t you mean lady?” referencing Ross who is transgender.
Angelica Ross says that Emma Roberts misgendered her and created an unwelcome working environment on the set of ‘AMERICAN HORROR STORY: 1984’.
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 20, 2023
She adds that she didn’t report it because one person who did speak up got repercussions for doing so. pic.twitter.com/xQDVqoVa8q
In case it bears repeating, misgendering someone is not fucking ok at all.
Ross has since opened up about Roberts calling to apologise over the incident but we are now starting to see signs that show things were not copacetic between the cast members.
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.
— A N G E L I C A (@angelicaross) September 20, 2023
In a resurfaced video from 2019, Angelica, along with her AHS cast mates Billie Lourd, Cody Fern and Gus Kenworthy can be seen hanging out together after watching the 1984 premiere.
At one point Angelica spoke directly to fans watching and said, “we just want to say hello to all the LGBTQ fans – hey GLAAD – we absolutely love you.
“We are watching out for all the transphobia on set.”
Billie Lourd doubled down on the sentiments and added, “we will come for you. In the nicest way!”
While the video seems jovial, it does now show the cast dynamics in a more fractious light as these allegations against Roberts have been made public.
You can see that at the time Ross was trying to downplay the incident but all too often people who have been discriminated against feel like they can’t or shouldn’t make a fuss, especially when the accusations are against a person who holds power.
We truly hope Emma Roberts can take time to reflect on this misstep and do better in the future. Might we suggest a fairly hefty donation to GLAAD in the meantime, hun?
