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Mass Shooting Episode Of 'American Horror Story: Cult' Edited Following Vegas Attack

American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy said the decision was "the right move."
Andrew Toth via Getty Images
Ryan Murphy at the New Yorker Festival on Oct. 7, 2017.
Andrew Toth via Getty Images

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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