Angelica Ross left on read by Ryan Murphy after pitching all-Black women ‘AHS’ season

Actress, entrepreneur, and trans rights activist Angelica Ross left the internet gagged with her Ryan Murphy receipts yesterday.

On Monday, Ross took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to reveal what has been going on behind the scenes in the Ryan Murphy-verse. Ross, who first rose to prominence as Candy on the Murphy-produced Pose, starred in American Horror Story: 1984 and Double Feature. Nothing uncommon for Ryan Murphy-verse actors to split their acting talents between his productions, but what seems to be common is being left on read by Murphy himself.

Ross posted a screenshot of her email thread with Murphy, paired with an excerpt from New York Times bestselling author Zakiyah Harris’ book The Other Black Girl, where he confirmed that he was moving forward with AHS season starring a cast of Black women. In the email, written on July 3, 2020, Murphy wrote, “Remember your idea about a Horror season starring Black women? Well I’m doing it. Not sure of the story yet, but we will start a writers room in the fall. Along with you, who are the four women I should get? I think you, Keke Palmer, Gabby [Sidibe] … not sure of the fourth?”

An excited Ross responded the same day affirming the inclusion of herself, Palmer, and Sidibe, as well as encouraging recruiting AHS alums Angela Bassett and Adina Porter. But her list didn’t stop there. She even threw in the names of Alfre Woodard, Debbi Morgan, Lynn Whitfield, Amiyah Scott, Gabrielle Union, Viola Davis, Lupita Nyong’o, Kerry Washington, and Halle Berry.

Ross gave Murphy some Hollywood heavyweights to potentially work with, but that conversation went silent. She posted another screenshot from a February 7, 2022 email that showed her following up on her previous season 11 pitch. 

Still, Ross received no answer, with her post captioned, “After not hearing back. After sending flowers and no response I sent one last email in Feb 2022 (it took about a year to film season 10 due to COVID) while still contractually in first position with the show. Mind you, Marvel had called twice now. I haven’t heard from him since.”

Related:

‘AHS’ Actress Angelica Ross Was Almost a Part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

‘AHS’ actress Angelica Ross was almost a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a strict contract prevented that from happening.

Left on read again. 

Ross had previously taken to social media to discuss her frustration with having to let go of an opportunity with Marvel Studios, while contractually bound to her FX contract. And while show ideas are subject to change, Ross made it clear that her gripe was also with the lack of communication from the studio to see if she could even go with what Marvel was trying to offer. 

Ross’ follow up post stated, “It’s not JUST that the idea changed. Things change all the time.  It’s that 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. I had been auditioning for three years for marvel. It’s that I was held in first position the whole time.”

And in case you’re wondering what season 11 turned out to be, well it became American Horror Story: New York City. The season focused on the rise of the HIV epidemic of the 1980s and a series of murders involving gay men. The main cast consisted of white actors, save Isaac Powell who is mixed-race. 

Needless to say, the tea that Ross spilled is boiling and brings up many questions about what’s going on behind the scenes in the Ryan Murphy-verse. But if we need more answers, it looks like Ross has plenty still to give.