On July 9, fans of FX’s long-running anthology series American Horror Story learned that the hotly anticipated thirteenth season would be premiering on Sept. 24, 2026. That was good news. Then, on Sept. 10, Deadline reported that it would be doing so without a previously announced star: pop singer and actress Ariana Grande will not be making her American Horror Story debut in Season 13.
That’s bad news, but it couldn’t be avoided. Grande is currently traveling on her Eternal Sunshine Tour, and had to change a couple of July dates in a way that made it impossible for her to shoot her scenes for AHS. Her tour will continue with stops in New York City, Boston, Montreal, Chicago, and London.
This would have been Grande’s first appearance on American Horror Story, although it wouldn’t have been her first time in a show created by Ryan Murphy. Grande played sorority sister Chanel #2 in the horror-comedy slasher show Scream Queens in 2015, where her character was killed in the very first episode.
Even without Grande, the cast for American Horror Story Season 13 is stacked, and includes a ton of franchise veterans. Returning players include Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe, John Carroll Lynch, Mena Suvari, Mat Fraser, and Leslie Grossman. Newcomers include Paul Anthony Kelly, Berto Colón, Joey Pollari, and filmmaker John Waters. According to Deadline, veteran Frances Conroy and newcomer Alex Consani were recently spotted filming scenes in New York with the rest of the cast. Fans noted that Ariana Grande was absent from that shoot. Now we know why.
Traditionally, each new season of American Horror Story tells a unique tale, but it feels like Season 13 will tread some old ground. It’s already been confirmed that Sarah Paulson will be reprising the role of Cordelia Goode from Season 3, “Coven.” And it looks like Jessica Lange may be stepping back into the role of Constance Langdon, whom she played in the very first season of AHS, “Murder House.”
We know very little about the new season, except that it will simply be called “13.” In a statement, FX said that it “will do justice to everyone’s most feared number.”
Bringing together an all-star cast, many of whom are reprising fan-favorite roles, American Horror Story: 13 continues to build on the anthology’s decades-long legacy that has been streamed more than 700 million hours across the globe and spawned a legion of dedicated fans.
It’s a shame that Ariana Grande won’t be part of that story, but if fans want to see what it looks like when a pop star appears on American Horror Story, they can always go rewatch Season 5, “Hotel,” with Lady Gaga.
- Release Date
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October 5, 2011
- Network
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FX
- Directors
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Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Jennifer Lynch, Michael Uppendahl, Loni Peristere, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Ryan Murphy, David Semel, Howard Deutch, Michael Lehmann, Angela Bassett, Jeremy Podeswa, Max Winkler, Michael Rymer, Paris Barclay, Axelle Carolyn, Anthony Hemingway, Craig Zisk, Elodie Keene, Jennifer Arnold, Jessica Yu, John Scott, Laura Belsey, Liz Friedlander, Maggie Kiley
- Writers
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Halley Feiffer, Ned Martel, Crystal Liu, Charlie Carver, Kristen Reidel, Adam Penn, Douglas Petrie, Todd Kubrak, Reilly Smith, Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin, Joshua A. Green, Akela Cooper, Asha Michelle Wilson
