This week’s “American Horror Story” cut a mass shooting scene, following the Las Vegas tragedy
Ryan Murphy decided to make some edits to this week’s American Horror Story: Cult, following the Las Vegas tragedy.
The American Horror Story episode reportedly included gun violence at its beginning and end, but the episode has since been reworked in the wake of the recent mass shooting — the largest in U.S. history — that left 58 dead and more than 500 injured.
"I just made the decision that I’m going to have all of that violence be shown for the most part off camera," Murphy said at The New Yorker Festival on Saturday.
Murphy’s decision to edit out the violence came from, in part, his concern for victims’ rights.
"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," Murphy explained, "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 added, “So our decision was to re-edit it and I felt that that was the right move. 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.”
FX confirmed Murphy’s announcement in a statement on Monday.
“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 10th, 10 PM ET/PT)," the network said.
“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.”
The network will offer both versions of the episode — edited and unedited — but only on certain platforms.
The statement continued, “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+.”
American Horror Story: Cult airs on Tuesdays on FX.
