Ariana Grande drops out of “American Horror Story” season 13 due to scheduling conflicts

Key Points

• Ariana Grande will no longer appear on the upcoming 13th season of American Horror Story.

• The singer, whose casting was initially revealed in October 2025, was set to make her debut on the anthology series alongside several returning stars, including Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, and Angela Bassett.

• American Horror Story: 13 will premiere Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on FX and Hulu.

Sorry, witches! Ariana Grande will no longer be making her American Horror Story debut in season 13 after all. The singer has dropped out of the ongoing production due to time conflicts between the filming and her ongoing Eternal Sunshine tour, Entertainment Weekly has learned.

Grande was revealed as one of the few newcomers making their AHS debut in the highly anticipated upcoming season last October, although it would not have been her first time working with Ryan Murphy. The TV guru first cast her on his series Scream Queens (2015). She also previously worked with beloved AHS alumni Evan Peters, who appeared in the music video for her single “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).”

The singer did not shoot any scenes for the new season.

FX and 20th Television declined to comment when EW reached out. Deadline originally broke the news.

Grande kicked off her tour June 6 in Oakland, Calif., and she’s scheduled to take the production to cities including Atlanta, Boston, Montreal, and London, where her last show in the series is set for Sept. 1. Her website notes that every show is sold out.

The singer had to reschedule several shows on her tour last month, which she shared was to “ensure the full production can be delivered safely and as intended.”

A July 12 concert that had been set for Brooklyn had been moved to July 14, with the remaining Brooklyn shows to take place as originally scheduled. Two shows planned for the TD Garden in Boston on July 22 and July 24 will now be on July 23 and July 26.

“We are so sorry for these unfortunate scheduling changes,” the “Positions” singer wrote on her Instagram Stories in June, sharing the announcement. “This was our best and safest option as these challenges with production have come to our attention. The utmost important thing to us all is safety, first and foremost, and also making sure you all see the show how it is intended to run. Thank you so much for your understanding and I cannot wait to see you.”

Ticketholders were told that they would receive more information directly and that their tickets would be good for the new date.

While fans will have to mourn the loss of Grande when the season premieres in September, they have plenty to look forward to.

The production has been filming for months in New York City, with what star Kathy Bates has described as an “all-star season.” The installment is bringing back several veterans of the series, including Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe, and Leslie Grossman. 

In February 2026, cult film icon John Waters revealed that he’d also joined the cast of AHS season 13. Speaking at a Valentine’s Day spoken word show in his hometown of Baltimore (per the Baltimore Fishbowl), he announced, “I can’t say what role, but I’ve got a big new part in American Horror Story.”

Ever the jokester, Waters added, “I’m typecast. I’m always either the devil or Chucky’s father… I’ve always been trying to steal Vincent Price’s career.”

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The season welcomes back the group of witches at the center of AHS season 3 (subtitled Coven), which became the connecting thread to other parts of the AHS universe, notably the settings of season 1’s Murder House, season 5’s Hotel, and season 8’s Apocalypse.

Paulson (the Supreme/Cordelia Goode), Roberts (Madison Montgomery), Sidibe (Queenie), Grossman (Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt), and Frances Conroy (Myrtle Snow), were recently spotted filming scenes in the city with newcomers to the cast Avantika Vandanapu (Not Suitable for Work), model Alex Consani, and Grace Dumdaw (And Just Like That).

Additional photos also captured actor Charlie Carver, who notably starred as Adam Carpenter in season 11’s “NYC” story.

Some of the stars came out for an upfront presentation back in May to help promote the show, while Murphy has been revealing new looks on social media. April brought a look at Lange on set, suggesting the actress could be playing her Murder House role of Constance Langdon. Murphy followed up with sneak peeks at Paulson and Roberts in the parts they originated on the Coven season.

American Horror Story: 13 (as FX is currently titling it in press materials) will premiere Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on FX and Hulu.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly