Emma Roberts’ ‘AHS’ Co-Stars Call Out Transphobia in Resurfaced Video

Emma Roberts’ American Horror Story (AHS) co-stars called out transphobia on the set of their hit show in a video that has resurfaced after Angelica Ross accused her of making a transphobic comment.

On Tuesday, footage shared on social media showed Ross, who is transgender, speaking out in an undated Instagram Live about her experiences with Roberts on the set of 2019’s season called American Horror Story: 1984.

Pose star Ross, who made her AHS debut in 1984, said in the clip that her relationship with Roberts soured when an otherwise playful moment led to an alleged transphobic remark. On Wednesday, Ross stated on X, formerly Twitter, that Roberts had called her to apologize.

Newsweek reached out to representatives of Roberts, Ross and FX via email for comment.

As the allegations continued to be a talking point online, one social media user shared a video clip from 2019 that showed Ross with her AHS co-stars after they watched the premiere episode of 1984 together. Included in the clip were Cody Fern, Billie Lourd and Gus Kenworthy. Roberts was not seen in the footage.

In the clip, Ross asked her co-stars what they thought of the episode, prompting Lourd to respond: “We watched it as a family, and I thought that was so beautiful and earnest of us.”

After she and her co-stars commented on parts of the show they found particularly entertaining, Ross, who was controlling the camera, said: “We just want to say hi to all the LGBTQ fans. Hi GLAAD [Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation]. We absolutely love you, we are watching for all the transphobia on set.”

“Always,” Lourd interjected, as Ross continued: “Me and Billie were just like, ‘That’s transphobia!'”

“We’ll come for you,” Lourd warned, as she playfully wagged a finger. “In the nicest way.”

The clip, which has been viewed more than 550,000 times, was uploaded on Wednesday, the same day the anthology series’ new Delicate season debuted.

In her Instagram Live, Ross recounted an alleged exchange with Roberts on the AHS set. “I’m standing in front of Emma, talking to her like this, and she’s in front of me, her back against the mirror,” she said. “She goes, ‘John, Angelica’s being mean.'”

The “John” in question was not specified, though two episodes of the season they both starred in were directed by John J. Gray.

“I know she’s not being for real,” Ross said. “She’s just being whatever. And John is like, ‘OK, ladies, 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 turns around like this and covers her mouth [with her shirt].”

Once Roberts turned away, she apparently couldn’t “see I’m looking at her dead a** in the camera, like, ‘What the f*** did you just say?’ Ross said. “And I’m standing there looking her dead a** in the damn thing, and I’m like, trying to process [what] the f*** she just said.”

“I’m standing there, she walked away. My blood is boiling. Because I’m like, if I say something, it’s gonna be me that’s the problem. And 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,” Ross alleged.

“So when I saw that happening, I was just like, ‘I’m done,'” Ross continued. “I didn’t speak to that b**** the entire time after that. So we had scenes together and I never spoke to her. She said to me she could feel the energy coming off of me. She was like, ‘Are you OK? You haven’t been talking.’ I’m like, ‘Mmmhmm.’

“‘Cause b**** don’t play me. You’ve been playing mind games with everybody on the set and everybody’s been waiting for the moment that you would get me.”

On Wednesday, Ross said in a post on X that Roberts had called her to apologize.

Tagging her co-star’s account, Ross wrote: “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.”

While Roberts and Ross appeared alongside one another in 1984, only Ross was among the cast for Double Feature, the season that immediately followed in 2021. Neither appeared in last year’s NYC. Roberts is the only one of the two appearing in Delicate, marking her sixth season of American Horror Story.

Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, American Horror Story has been a fan favorite since first hitting screens with Murder House back in 2011. Over the years, the ensemble cast has featured a host of household names, including Evan Peters, Dylan McDermott, Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Lady Gaga, Connie Britton, Macaulay Culkin, and Frances Conroy.

Kim Kardashian and model Cara Delevingne are among those making franchise debuts in Delicate, which is based on the book Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine. This is the first time that Murphy has based a season on a novel, although past series have used plenty of real-world inspiration—from The Black Dahlia murder to serial killer John Wayne Gacy and the “Vampire Countess of Hungary” Elizabeth Bathory.