Amiyah Scott (born January 11, 1988) is an American actress, model, author, and dancer. She is known for her presence on social media apps such as

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, as a fixture in the LGBT ball community, and for her role as Cotton in the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

television series ''Star'' (2016–2019). She also appeared in the eighth season of ''

The Real Housewives of Atlanta ''The Real Housewives of Atlanta'' (abbreviated ''RHOA'') is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on October 7, 2008. Developed as the third installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired fourteen seaso ...

.''

Early life

Amiyah Scott was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on January 11, 1988. She was raised in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. As an adolescent, she experienced bullying. At 15, Scott underwent a partial male-to-female transition, and at 17, she fully transitioned. At this time, she moved out of her parents' house and explored entrepreneurship opportunities. Since young adulthood, she has been a well-respected member of the LGBT ball community.

Career

Acting

Scott became an

internet celebrity An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social ...

when videos of her performing as part of ballrooms were uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. She then became " Insta-famous" following the posting of a before-and-after photo which contrasted her young self, styled as male, and her current self, the self-actualized female. In 2015, it was announced that Scott had been added to the cast of ''

'' for its eighth season; she was the first transgender woman to be cast in the ''

Real Housewives ''The Real Housewives'' is an international reality television franchise that consists of 57 programs; 11 American installments, 20 international installments and 26 spin-offs. Most of the franchise documents the personal and professional lives ...

'' franchise. Scott later left the show, stating that she was offended by the way the producers wanted her to behave, which she believed would have been an exploitation of her trans identity. Producers on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

later claimed the reason Scott was not on the show anymore was because her transgender identity was "not enough to make erinteresting." Shortly after her departure from ''Housewives'', Scott was cast by

Lee Daniels Lee Daniels (born December 24, 1959) is an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter. His first producer credit was ''Monster's Ball'' (2001), for which Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making Daniels ...

in the show ''

Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

''; this became Scott's first acting role. She starred on the series from 2016 to 2019, for three seasons.

Other ventures

Activism

In addition to acting, Scott is a motivational speaker and activist with the goal of giving a voice to transgender women. Her presentations focus on the themes of bullying, self-esteem, and self-acceptance. At an event in Atlanta hosted by the Gay & Lesbian Association against Defamation (GLAAD), the GLAAD President, Sarah Kate Ellis, said that "Amiyah Scott is a talented actress and brilliant advocate who uses her voice to uplift transgender women of color and educate fans everywhere about transgender people and issues. At a time when LGBTQ visibility in the South is critical to moving our community forward, we are proud to stand with women like Amiyah to promote messages of love and acceptance." In addition, Scott is also vocal with politics. For example, she criticized some of the Trump administration's policies together with other activists in the transgender community such as

Laverne Cox Laverne Cox (born May 29, 1972) is an American actress and LGBT advocate. She rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black'', becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a Pr ...

and

Janet Mock Janet Mock (born March 10, 1983) is an American writer, television host, director, producer and transgender rights activist. Her debut book, the memoir '' Redefining Realness'', became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. She is a contributing edit ...

Books

Scott published her first book, a memoir called ''Memoirs of a Mermaid'', on March 31, 2019.

Cosmetics

Scott has a beauty line, Amiyah Beauty, with RivalWorld. Her first product is a lip-gloss.

Awards

Filmography

Podcasts

References

External links

* * * * https://theamiyahscott.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Amiyah Living people 1988 births 21st-century American actresses African-American actresses American television actresses Female models from New York (state) African-American female models Actresses from New York City LGBT African Americans American LGBT rights activists Transgender rights activists Transgender actresses Transgender female models Transgender writers LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT people from Louisiana Actresses from New Orleans Female models from Louisiana African-American female dancers Dancers from Louisiana Dancers from New York (state) 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people 21st-century LGBT people American LGBT actors 20th-century African-American women