Versace family hasn't authorised 'American Crime Story'

The Versace family has reportedly not authorised the forthcoming TV series about the death of late Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace.

The Versace family seems to be distancing itself from the upcoming Ryan Murphy-produced "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story". Just hours before FX held a Los Angeles premiere for the second season of the hit anthology series, the family broke their silence on the show, reports variety.com.

"The Versace family has neither authorised nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming TV series about the death of Mr. Gianni Versace. Since Versace did not authorise the book on which it is partly based nor it has taken part in the writing of the screenplay, this TV series should only be considered as a work of fiction," read an official statement.

What the family thinks about "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" seemingly didn't affect the relationship between the current Vice President of the Versace Group, as well as its chief designer, Donatella Versace, says Penelope Cruz, who plays her on the series.

On January 7 at the 75th Annual Golden Globes Awards, Cruz said: "When Ryan told me, I said to him, 'This sounds really interesting, but I have to make this call and I have to talk to Donatella'. I called her and we spoke, like, for an hour. I needed that conversation to say 'yes'.

"It was a conversation where, I cannot share everything we talked about, but we have a good relationship."

Based on the book "Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in US History" by Maureen Orth, the 10-episode second season will centre on the assassination of Gianni Versace in Miami in July 1997. Serial murderer Andrew, who killed five people that year, committed suicide eight days later on a house boat.

The show stars Edgar Ramirez as Gianni Versace, Ricky Martin as Antonio D'Amico and Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan.

--IANS

ks/rb/dg