Versace family: ‘American Crime Story’ is a ‘work of fiction’

Ahead of the premiere of “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” the family of the legendary fashion designer has finally broken their silence on the show.

“The Versace family has neither authorized nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming TV series about the death of Mr. Gianni Versace,” the family said in a statement via the fashion house. “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.”

The second season of executive producer Ryan Murphy’s critically acclaimed anthology series will explore the death of Versace at the hands of Andrew Cunanan in 1997. Edgar Ramirez will play Versace, while Darren Criss will play Cunanan. It is based in part on Maureen Orth’s 1999 book “Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in US History.”

During the show’s panel at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, executive producer Tom Rob Smith acknowledged that the writers had to fill in gaps in certain parts of the story, such as the events surrounding the deaths of Cunanan’s other victims, but pushed back against the idea that the events of the series were exaggerated.

“We have these tiny points of truth, and you try to connect the tissue between them, but I would never use the term ’embellish,’” Smith said.