Angelica Ross shares email exchange with Ryan Murphy about unrealized, Black women-led AHS season
Angelica Ross says that Ryan Murphy promised an American Horror Story season led by Black women, but it never materialized
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Ryan Murphy reportedly crossed multiple picket lines to get American Horror Story: Delicate made, but it seems like he couldn’t even cross his own living room to email Angelica Ross back about a season of television she was supposed to star in.
This latest entry in the laundry list of Ryan Murphy’s offenses comes via Ross’ Twitter/X, on which she posted a series of screenshotted emails between her and the director about an alleged Black women-led season of American Horror Story he was conceptualizing. Ross had worked with Murphy before on both AHS and Pose.
“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 [presumably Sidibe]…not sure of the fourth?” Murphy wrote in his initial email.
“YAAAAAASSSSS!” Ross responded before sending a prospective list of actors, including Debbi Morgan, Lynn Whitfield, Alfre Woodard, Angela Bassett and more.
But Ross would soon have her enthusiasm crushed. She was reportedly “left on read” by Murphy soon after, as she wrote in an Instagram reel, and the series never materialized.
“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 [sic] had called twice now. I haven’t heard from him since,” Ross revealed in a post containing her final email to the director. (First position meaning that Murphy’s show would have been her primary obligation.)
Ross had previously opened up about losing the Marvel role, but not about the extent of the ickiness which preceded it. “I was under a 7 year contract with FX in what they call ‘first position’. [sic] As a series regular, I could not work anywhere else without getting network approval. While working on AHS season 10 I was told I would be returning to Season 11 and was put on hold for several months,” she explained in a July tweet. “During this time Marvel called a few times asking about my availability. By the time FX released me, Marvel stopped calling. Now it’s been years since I have had an acting job. This is also why we are striking.”
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I’m sure he’ll get to it just as soon as he finishes that season of American Crime Story about the Danziger Bridge shootings that he promised before the Clinton season and never delivered.
racist
eh, sounds like she avoided a real Horror Story of a job, amiritebruhs(shows self to the door)
So he had an idea, but didn’t have a story. And he had a vague idea for three of the four leads (only one of whom was even aware of the idea, as far as we know). There’s a lot of reasons to dislike Ryan Murphy; I’m just not sure if “talking out his ass about a project during COVID and then not following through” is one of them.
It seems like the point of the story she’s telling is more about the unfairness of the contract than just about Murphy being fickle. Her contract kept her from taking other jobs while she waited for him to stop dicking around and no one at the company would give her clarity while her other options dried up.Ryan Murphy sucks and I get why the headlines would focus on him, but her comment about “This is also why we’re striking” implies she’s complaining about a systemic issue and not one dude being wishy washy about his project ideas.It’s hard to find the important tweets because her story doesn’t seem to be contained in one thread, but this tweet seems to show that it’s more the business stuff (although I also see her complaining about on-set bigotry, so it seems like she’s unloading a lot of pent up anger)
Between Pose and American Horror Story, Ross filmed (and was presumably paid for) 35 episodes of television. She signed a contract requiring her to be available for further potential seasons.I get that this is frustrating, but I surely hope this is not why they’re striking.
The contract requiring her to be available for further potential seasons is part of the problem. She had to turn down jobs which – at least in her telling – hurt her career. Business Affairs could’ve been more responsive, and the whole situation illustrates why actors need residuals.
I don’t see the connection. I fully think actors should be paid in a way that is fair and lets them benefit from ongoing viewings of the shows their on. But it’s also fair to expect recurring actors on series (as Ross was) to be available when they sign contracts to do so, even though that inherently means it is harder to book other work.
It’s not a 1:1 connection, but a lot of these issues are related in that large chunks of the TV industry has moved away from the traditional broadcast TV model, where seasons were scheduled very predictably, which was helpful for actors to plan things during hiatuses. Now thanks to basic cable and streaming shows, where shows are not only released year-round and thus filmed year-round, hiatus can last a year or more in between seasons, as opposed to the three or four months for a network television show. These things make it more difficult for an actor to schedule projects. Yes, it’s fair to expect recurring actors to be available when they sign a contract to do so. But according to IMDb, AHS didn’t even use Ross in Season 11, and – according to her – it took FX months to reply to her request. What’s happening is that, just like the fight over residuals, the studios are claiming that it’s not their fault if changes in the industry make things less stable, less predictable, and more difficult to get ahead for the workers, because they are responding to the demands in the market. But as the unions have pointed out time and time again, the corporations that own the studios are the ones forcing these changes. I don’t know of any SAG demands that would specifically address the problems Ross had with AHS, but I think her story is an example of the disdain these studios have for their own workers. I’m willing to bet Business Affairs took so long to get back to Ross because it’s an understaffed department.
If he didn’t have a story he could have called her back and asked the network to let her out of her contract so she could get other jobs. Talking out of his ass AND holding her professionally hostage.
So brave. I’m sure you have a ton of personal insight into the contractual dispute that you have nothing to do with. And I’m SURE you’re not just commenting because it distracts you from having to think about what a failure your life has been.
“Talking out of his ass AND holding her professionally hostage.”
Her contract was with FX, dickhead. Ryan Murphy wasn’t holding anything hostage.
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The part where he seemingly refused to let her out of the contract is the bigger issue. If he had no real idea for Season 11 and no real use for her, he could have let her out of the first position contract so she could take the Marvel job. She seems fine with the fact that the season was just an idea, but he used that as the reason that she should be kept in her FX contract.
I’m genuinely surprised you didn’t take the opportunity for “Well, at least it kept her from slumming in a Marvel movie”. Good on you.