Ariana Grande will no longer appear in the new season of American Horror Story, The Independent has learned.
The pop superstar, 33, was originally expected to star in season 13 of Ryan Murphy’s long-running horror anthology series, alongside returning cast members Sarah Paulson, Emma Roberts, Evan Peters, Billie Lourd, Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, Frances Conroy and Leslie Grossman.
However, The Independent understands that production on the forthcoming season was moved to dates that conflict with Grande’s ongoing Eternal Sunshine Tour, forcing her to exit the series.
The “Love Me Harder” singer had not filmed any scenes, according to Deadline.
The highly anticipated season 13 will premiere Thursday, September 24 on FX at 9 p.m. ET. It will be available to stream on Hulu the next day.
Grande kicked off her fifth concert tour last month in Oakland, California. The 41-show tour is in support of her 2024 album, Eternal Sunshine, and its 2025 re-issue.
The Grammy-winning artist is scheduled to perform several shows in Brooklyn, New York, this month, before traveling to Boston, Massachusetts; Montreal, Quebec; and Chicago, Illinois, culminating in a 10-show run in London in the fall.
In a few weeks, the “We Can’t Be Friends” hitmaker will release her seventh studio album, Petal, which features the massive chart-topping lead single “Hate that I Made You Love Me.”
Meanwhile, AHS season 13 comes two years after its critically derided season 12, which starred Kim Kardashian in her first major acting role, opposite series staple Roberts.
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It has been years since Paulson, Peters, Bates, Lange, Bassett, Sidibe and Conroy last appeared on the series. Details of the new season storylines remain under wraps, but it will welcome actors Paul Anthony Kelly, Berto Colón and Joey Pollari.
The returning cast members were announced in an October 2025 teaser clip, which also included the message: “Surprise, b****. I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me.”
AHS first premiered in 2011, with season one centered on the Harmon family, who moved from Boston to Los Angeles to escape a troubled past, only to discover their new house is haunted by the ghosts of its previous tenants and their victims.
Although each season typically follows a new cast of characters, it is all set within the same fictional universe. Oftentimes, there are overlapping locations and returning characters as different themes — haunted houses, witch covens, and cults — are explored.
