Ariana Grande’s American Horror Story Exit Addressed By Ryan Murphy

American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy has spoken for the first time about Ariana Grande’s departure from the next season of the hit anthology show.

Last year, Ryan announced that Ariana – with whom he previously worked on the slasher homage Scream Queens – would be joining the 13th season of American Horror Story, alongside a star-studded cast of returning faces that would include Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett and Emma Roberts.

However, last month, it was reported that she’d been forced to drop out of the series due to a scheduling conflict involving her ongoing Eternal Sunshine world tour.

The TV super-producer has finally set the record straight during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, explaining: “I love Ariana Grande. We’re great friends. I had an idea [for a role in American Horror Story] and I came to her and she, very immediately, said, ‘I’m not sure because I think I’m going on tour’. I don’t think the tour had been announced, and she had obviously just finished the Wicked movie.

“So when it came time to do that episode, I called her up and she was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to juggle the tour with this’. And I said, ‘OK, if you can’t, we can push to another season’. She said, ‘Great’.”

He continued: “You have to be respectful. Who is busier than Ariana Grande? No one. She had told me at the time, ‘I have this album that’s dropping’. It was really, truly a scheduling conflict. I said, ‘OK, we’ll kick that can down the road’, and she said, ‘Great’.”

Ryan added that he will “always” want to work with Ariana again if the opportunity presented itself, insisting: “I love her, and I support her. It was a very big swing, but I might bring that back for another season, per Ariana’s availability. I think the world of her.”

Since Ariana’s exit from American Horror Story was first reported, it was also revealed that she had pulled out of a planned appearance in a London revival of the musical Sunday In The Park With George, which would have reunited her with Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey.

In a statement last week, her team said that Ariana would be “taking a step back from visibility” when her Eternal Sunshine tour ends next month.

“She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny,” her spokesperson explained.

“This tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”

Later this year, Ariana is set to appear alongside Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro in a reboot of the Meet The Parents franchise titled Focker-In-Law.