TV boss Ryan Murphy has scrapped a controversial American Horror Story: Cult mass shooting scene following the tragedy at the Route 91 festival in Las Vegas.
The scene, which was shot in September (17), features Sarah Paulson’s character opening fire at a political rally organized by the sadistic Kai, played by Evan Peters, according to TMZ.com.
Sources tell the news outlet producers of the series were unsure if they should still air the scene on Tuesday (10Oct17) following the tragic events in Las Vegas last week (01Oct17), when 59 people were killed and more than 500 injured as killer Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
Now, the show’s creator Murphy has confirmed he has edited out the shooting scene in an effort to be sensitive to the victims of the tragedy.
“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 (07Oct17), Entertainment Weekly reports.
“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 explained.
Murphy said he had great sympathy for those affected by the real-life shooting incident, and 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.”
