The Versace family distanced itself from an upcoming TV series about the 1997 murder of famed fashion designer Gianni Versace, just hours before its Los Angeles premiere.
In a statement released, the famed designer’s family said that it has neither authorised nor been involved in the series.
“The Versace family has neither authorised nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming TV series about the death of Mr Gianni Versace,” the statement read. “Since Versace did not authorize the book on which it is partly based nor has it taken part in the writing of the screenplay, this TV series should only be considered as a work of fiction.”
Though the family has not been formally involved in this project, which examines the fashion designers’ personal and professional lives in the 90s, Donatella did supposedly speak to Penelope Cruz, who playes Donatella Versace, about the series at least once.
“I did have one conversation that was between she and I,” Cruz told Entertainment Weekly last summer. “I don’t want to say the details, but it was a long conversation. That was very important to me. I think she knows that the way I’m playing her, that I truly love her and respect her.” Cruz has since elaborated: “I really hope that when she sees the show, she’s going to be happy. I’m sure there are going to be scenes that are hard for her to watch, because it’s a lot about the loss of her brother, which, of course, I have so much respect for. I did it with all my love.”
Without revealing whether or not he actually spoke to Donatella, Ryan Murphy also went on record and stated that he respected their wishes for the series.
“Donatella had some requests about how the children were depicted in the show,” Murphy said, referring to Donatella’s children with her ex-husband Paul Beck. “I listened to that. As a father, I understood. I wasn’t interested in going there, out of respect for her.”
The Versace family is not the only party to express doubts about the series. Gianni Versace’s boyfriend, Antonio D’Amico, also spoke publicly about his distaste for production images showing Ricky Martin portraying him moments after Gianni’s 1997 murder.
“The picture of Ricky Martin holding the body [of Gianni] in his arms is ridiculous,” D’Amico told The Observer. “Maybe it’s the director’s poetic license, but that is not how I reacted.”
Since that statement, however, Martin has gotten in touch with D’Amico. Martin said he told D’Amico, “‘Antonio, maybe you’ve seen a couple of paparazzi shots of the actual scenes that we’re shooting, but please don’t judge the quality of it just by one picture because it could easily be taken out of context. You have to see for yourself what we’re doing, and you’re going to be so pleased with everything.’”
Gianni Versace was fatally shot in front of his Miami Beach mansion, a victim of serial killer Andrew Cunanan.
FX’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, based in part on Maureen Orth’s book Vulgar Favors, stars Edgar Ramirez as Versace, Darren Criss as Cunanan and Penelope Cruz as Donatella Versace. It releases on January 17.
