Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/FX
It turns out to be incredibly fitting that Kim Kardashian plays a publicist in the new season of American Horror Story.
Depending on whether or not you subscribe to the philosophy that any press is good press, American Horror Story has had a very bad (or maybe a very good) week. As if it weren’t enough that FX’s hit anthology series—which premiered its twelfth installment, AHS: Delicate, Sept. 20—was accused of crossing the WGA’s picket line in a race to finish production over the summer, the show became embroiled in another scandal this week. Though fans were excited for series regular Emma Roberts to return in a lead role, that anticipation soured when Angelica Ross, who starred in Season 9, accused Roberts of transphobic behavior on set and criticized series creator Ryan Murphy for making false promises to her about involving her in the casting of an all-Black AHS, before ghosting and allegedly costing her other career opportunities.
Though Roberts and Ross have now seemingly taken steps to squash their beef—Ross says that Roberts called her to apologize—the controversy leaves AHS: Delicate in a, well…delicate position. But then again, it hasn’t just been a bad week for American Horror Story, it’s been a bad few years. The anthology hasn’t turned out a single consistently watchable season since its eighth offering, American Horror Story: Apocalypse. All of that was poised to be set aside for AHS: Delicate, with Murphy stepping down to let Halley Feiffer take over as showrunner, giving Season 12—which revolves around a troubled road to pregnancy for Roberts’ character, an actress named Anne Victoria Alcott—a much-needed woman’s touch.