UPDATE: Oct. 9 ― On Monday, FX addressed the upcoming episode of “American Horror Story: Cult,” which initially included a graphic mass shooting scene. The episode was re-edited to feature less on-screen violence following last week’s tragic attack in Las Vegas.
FX confirmed in a statement that the altered version of the show will air on the FX channel while the original will be available on demand through viewers’ cable or satellite providers as well as streaming platforms FXNOW and FX+.
Read the network’s full statement below.
In light of the tragedy last week in Las Vegas, Ryan Murphy and the producers of “American Horror Story: Cult” have chosen to make substantial edits to the opening scene of tomorrow night’s episode (Tuesday, October 10, 10 PM ET/PT). This opening, which was filmed two months ago and which portrays an occurrence of gun violence that has sadly become all too common in our country, contains a sequence that some viewers might find traumatic. Only the edited version of the episode will air on the FX linear channel, while the unedited version of the episode will be available on the VOD platform of your cable, satellite or telco provider, as well as on the FX Networks non-linear platforms, FXNOW and FX+.
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Ryan Murphy has decided to re-edit an upcoming episode of “American Horror Story: Cult,” which included a graphic mass shooting scene, in the wake of the attack in Las Vegas that killed 58 people and injured almost 500 others.
The producer spoke about his decision to alter the episode, filmed months before last weekend’s tragedy, during a conversation with Emily Nussbaum at the New Yorker Festival on Saturday.
“Should you air it? Should you not air it? How do you be sensitive? My point of view was I believe I have the right to air it, but I also believe in victims’ rights, and I believe that now is probably not the week to have something explosive or incendiary in the culture because someone who was affected might watch that and it could trigger something or make them feel upset,” he said, as reported by E! News. “So our decision was to re-edit it and I felt that that was the right move.”
He continued, “Nobody ever talks about victims’ rights. That’s sort of a weird emotional discussion that’s never bridged. … But I felt great sympathy for people who were affected, certainly, and family members and loved ones and people who are upset about the way the world is.”
Murphy also noted that the majority of the violence in the episode will now appear off-screen.
“It was meant to be an obvious anti-gun warning about society,” Murphy said (per Deadline), discussing his intentions for the episode. “I never do anything to offend,” he added.
Murphy’s choice to re-edit the “AHS” episode comes after Netflix canceled an event for its new show “The Punisher,” based on a Marvel comic book series by the same name. The series is about a vigilante who violently avenges the murder of his family.
The streaming service was set to premiere the first two episodes in Paris this weekend at an event called “Nuit Noire,” which was meant to coincide with a New York Comic Con simulcast. However, Netflix and Marvel “decided it wouldn’t be appropriate for Marvel’s ‘The Punisher’ to go ahead with the Paris Nuit Noire event and to participate in New York Comic Con.”
“Our thoughts continue to be with the victims and those affected” by the Las Vegas mass shooting, Netflix and Marvel said in a joint statement.
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