‘Shameless’ Alum Emmy Rossum Slams Troll Who Says She Gets ‘Paid to Get Naked on TV’

Don’t come for Emmy Rossum. The Shameless alum clapped back at a Twitter troll who wrote that she gets “paid to get naked on TV.” The incident began when Rossum told her followers she “can’t wait” to get her “I’m Speaking” T-shirt, referring to Kamala Harris’ quote from Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate.

After reading Rossum’s tweet, one social media user replied, “Yeah your shirts that say I GET PAID TO GET NAKED ON TV are sold out.” It didn’t take long for Rossum to defend herself and her acting roles, writing, “I get paid to tell stories and life sometimes involves this awesome thing called sex. Maybe you’ve just never had any so you don’t know.”

Although the 34-year-old has been working in the entertainment industry since she was a young girl, Rossum shot to fame after appearing as Fiona Gallagher in Shameless, a career-defining role. She spoke to E! News in 2014 about appearing nude in the series. “Being naked in character is very easy ’cause it’s just playing pretend,” she explained. “You’re someone else, you don’t feel like yourself. … You get to play pretend,” she continued. “In real life, I’m much more prudish.”

Though Rossum’s character was a staple in the Showtime series for nine seasons, in 2018 she announced her decision to exit the show. “The opportunity to play Fiona has been a gift,” she said in her goodbye message. “There are few characters — female or otherwise — as layered and dynamic. She is a mother lion, fierce, flawed and sexually liberated. She is injured, vulnerable, but will never give up.”

With one more final season of Shameless on the way — though they will be delayed due to COVID-19 — fans are wondering if they’ll get any kind of closure when it comes to Fiona, who left Chicago in Season 9. Though Rossum left the series to take on the lead role in Peacock series Angelyne, its filming schedule suggests she may be able to return to Shameless for at least a cameo. When Shameless series creator John Wells was asked if Rossum would return for the final season, Wells said, “I’ll certainly ask her. She’s very busy and she does a lot of other things. We all love each other and we’ve been through wonderful things together, so I’ll ask her and hopefully, she’ll be available at the time that we do it.”