Model and RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Carmen Carrera is alleging that a character on Pose has a storyline that bears too real a resemblance to her life. In social media posts earlier this week, she also claimed that after auditioning for the FX show, Pose representatives never reached out to let her know if she booked the role.
In an X post published on Tuesday, Carrera alleged that Janet Mock, an executive producer, writer, and director on Pose, “completely ripped off” her life story and used it for the character of Angel Evangelista, played by Indya Moore. Carrera made the post in response to being tagged in a tweet alongside Mock that was honoring strong trans women in media.
Carrera has worked as a model and, in 2015, got married and became a stepmother to her husband’s two children from a previous marriage; these are the aspects of her story that she believes were used to craft Angel’s storyline.
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“Sometimes with power comes oppression,” Carrera wrote. “Like how Janet & her writing team completely ripped off my real life storyline for Angel’s character on Pose.”
She added, “I was always curious why Pose had 3 seasons & the biggest trans cast but had no spots for me.”
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Carmen went on to say that press coverage of the show “made it seem” as if Angel’s storyline was similar to the life of Tracey Norman, the first Black trans woman to achieve mainstream success as a fashion model. Several outlets have reported that Norman’s story served as inspiration for Angel’s arc in the fashion industry, especially with respect to Norman losing work after being outed as trans. However, Carrera claims that Angel’s storyline was really based on her own.
“They made it seem in the media that it was the Tracy Norman story, however so many elements, twists & turns, didn’t match and the fans noticed it throughout,” she wrote. “I mean listen, you want [to] rip my story off at least pay a girl.”
When asked for comment, Carrera told Entertainment Weekly that the Pose casting team had reached out to her management at the time when looking to hire trans actors for the show.
“Included in my media deck is parts of my story, including my wedding photos that were featured in PEOPLE magazine from December 2015,” she said. The magazine was given exclusive access to the photos of Carrera’s wedding to her partner Adrian Torres. “This was just after the ‘trans tipping point’ and so much of the media was covering my story as trailblazing since no one else had seen a trans person in the position to being married on TV and having step children.”
Carrera alleges that Angel’s season-three arc, in which she gets married and has a stepchild, more closely resembles her own story than it does Norman’s. As detailed in the People story, Carrera’s husband Torres did have two children from a previous marriage.
Mock, Moore, and FX, the network that aired Pose, have not responded to EW’s request for comment. Representatives for creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy declined to comment.
Carrera went on to say that she was told by her management that they would eventually find a role for her, though one never materialized, even as her fellow Drag Race alum got the call.
“Season 2 gets cast, Jiggly [Caliente] and [Peppermint] get on the show and they begin promoting the show as the biggest trans cast on TV,” she told EW. “Pose also promotes that in season 2 [Indya’s] character will be based on the Tracey Norman story.”
Carrera also claimed that representatives from the show “went completely ghost” and that she never heard back about being cast.
“I’m all for telling the community’s stories and being accurate and true, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of the real people who actually lived the story,” she said.
A source with knowledge of the situation told EW that Carrera auditioned for a small role as a model on Pose. However, Carrera also gave EW a copy of her audition tape, which showed her reading lines for a bartender role. The source also told EW that Carrera was formally told she was rejected for the role, seemingly pushing back on her allegation that no one followed up with her.
Pose was known for its deep well of trans talent, including Moore, Dominique Jackson, Angelica Ross, and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, who became the first trans performer to be nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the Emmys. She also became the first trans actress to win a Golden Globe for her role in Pose.
Aside from appearing on the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Carrera has modeled in W and been featured in the photography of David LaChapelle. Carrera has been outspoken about Drag Race since her time on the show and was one of the leading voices in challenging RuPaul to stop using anti-trans slurs and pejorative language referencing the trans community on the show.
Them has reached out to Mock and Carrera for comment.
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