AHS: Cult Episode Re-Edited in Wake of Las Vegas Shooting Massacre
American Horror Story: Cult has recut an upcoming mass shooting sequence in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre on Oct. 1, which left 59 dead and more than 500 wounded.
As first revealed during a panel at Saturday’s New Yorker Festival, creator Ryan Murphy has chosen to re-edit the Oct. 10 episode, “Mid-Western Assassin,” which features an eerily similar tragedy. While the shooting has not been entirely cut from the installment, the scene is reportedly less graphic following new edits, with most of the violence taking place off-screen.
“I believe I have the right to air it, but I also believe in victims’ rights,” Murphy said during the conversation. “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. So our decision was to re-edit it, and I felt that that was the right move.”
UPDATE: FX has released the following statement confirming that the episode will be tweaked: “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 [this week]’s episode. 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+.”
AHS: Cult is the latest series to be impacted by a senseless act of violence. Back in July, NBC postponed an episode of The Carmichael Show after a gunman opened fire at an Alexandria, Va., baseball field and wounded four people, including U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise. In 2016, TNT delayed the Season 3 premiere of The Last Ship in the wake of the Pulse nightclub tragedy, while USA Network (repeatedly) delayed the launch of sniper drama Shooter after multiple mass shooting incidents.
This takes me back to the beat in the first episode of the season where Winter lambastes CNN for not airing a trigger warning about Clinton losing the election and Trump winning. The show has essentially gone back on itself and eaten its own tail by doing the very thing it is commenting on through these two characters, Winter and Kai.
TMZ took it upon themselves to completely spoil the scene anyway. But I’m glad they’re doing the right thing and editing it. Although from the spoiler, it sounds like it’s a pivotal part of the plot, so I can’t imagine that they’ve edited it too much. I guess we’ll see.
I think it was the right thing to do. Good for Ryan Murphy.
I think he is doing a good thing here. Cutting our a few details for respect, without having to recreate an entire plot with a different idea.
I was surprised to hear that it was even part of the story because, well, I get the sense they are annoyed with some super direct season one connections (I am convinced they searched for a kid who looks so much like Evan Peters but blond like a little half demon that probably is about Ozzy’s age) and while it was a school shooting, that is what Tate did.
It would be far more sensible to not include those sorts of things in TV shows in the first place.
Then you are telling them not to tell the story they want to tell. If people dont like the scene or the story being told, they dont have to watch. Simple as that.
Why? This show is rated TV-MA, and has a warning of the rating before every episode starts. The audience knows what they’re getting themselves into. “Horror” is in the title of the show, and mass shootings are a horror that occur, as shown in recent events. Television shows mimic life.
I was gonna say the same thing. Not that I think showing violence on tv causes violence in real life, but because they always get changed or deleted or moved. If it’s happening as much in tv as it’s happening in real life, they need to come up with another story.
Mass shootings are rarely used in television shows. So your “they need to come up with another story” doesn’t hold up.
Actually several studies in 1970s showed a direct correlation with Vietnam War being the first ‘televised’ war – the evening news was gruesome daily – and the doubling of homicide rate. People became desensitized. Obviously I believe stories should be told without censorship, but to say there’s no link isn’t really accurate. We’ve all become less shocked by violence because we see it on regular basis. In this case, how is it that story can still be told effectively with multiple edits? That tells me the violence and graphic nature weren’t really integral. If they were, the episode would be postponed- like many others in past.
Pardon me for being cynical, but this is a good way to draw publicity to a season that isn’t really grabbing me the way previous ones have.
My thoughts too. Why did RM feel the need to announce this? Nobody knew this storyline was coming, so why didn’t he just make the cuts without telling anybody? He is just using a tragedy so that he can convince the world he is a nice and compassionate person. It’s actually more disturbing than the show could ever be.
The media spoiled earlier this week that the episode contained a mass shooting not Ryan Murphy. Many websites made articles wondering if the episode should be delayed or not. Ryan Murphy is just answering saying that it won’t delayed…
I feel for Vegas and I think that it was a horrible thing but it’s stupid to reedit a scene because of it. This is a horror show and you don’t start watching it expecting unicorns and rainbows.
So passionate about imaginary bloodshed yet doing nothing to prevent real ones.
Um, so exactly what do you think Ryan Murphy should do to prevent real ones?
Nothing. It’s not his job. He’s one person. People as a whole should do something. Mass shootings happen. They shouldn’t.
Everyone is outraged, sad, heart-broken but the only thing that ever happens after a mass shooting is that a TV show is going to get edited.