FX Confirms American Horror Story: Cult Mass Shooting Scene Was Cut

A few days after American Horror Story co-creator Ryan Murphy said he would edit this week's episode of AHS: Cult, which featured a mass shooting at both the beginning and end, FX has confirmed the last-minute changes.

The cable network released a statement (via Entertainment Weekly), noting that the un-edited version will still be available on demand once the edited cut airs on Oct. 10. It will be a little more than a week since a gunman killed 59 concertgoers and injured more than 500 at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas.

"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. 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+."

Murphy previously said at the New Yorker Festival (via Deadline) that his intended for the scenes to be an "obvious anti-gun warning about society" and that he "never [does] anything to offend." The graphic portions of the scenes will reportedly take place off-screen.