*Google translate from Italian
No doubt about it: the second season of American Crime Story is not really liked by the Versace family, which is the protagonist. The Assassination of Gianni Versace, aired by us on Fox Crime (the latest episode will air next Friday) has caused a sensation as he told the murder of the famous designer Gianni Versace at the hands of the serial killer Andrew Cunanan.
In fact, rather than focusing on the designer, the series preferred to follow the man hunt that was born after the shot that kills Versace on 15 July 21 years ago. All this, inspired by Maureen Orth’s book “Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History.” The book has never been authorized by the Versace family: it follows that even the Ryan Murphy TV series has met with the same distrust.
American Crime Story 2, the words of Santo Versace
Shortly before the show’s debut, in January, Donatella Versace had underlined her own extraneousness to the project, and today at Rai Radio1’s Un Giorno da Pecora her brother Santo came down on it heavier, distancing himself from what is told in the show:
“Do I like the TV series The Assassination of Gianni Versace? It’s illustrated crap that does not even concern Gianni Versace, it’s full of lies, stupidity, it’s a series made on Mr. Cunanan, not on Gianni Versace".
Santo Versace admits to follow the TV series, but “to understand how much filth and falsity they say, it’s just something obscene.” For the president of the Versace group the show uses the tragedy to tell another story:
“The series is on Andrew Cunnanan, not on Gianni, they have exploited Gianni Versace because he is an audience.”
American Crime Story 2, the statements of the Versace family
“I speak only for myself,” he then told the conductors Geppi Cucciari and Giorgio Lauro, "but I think everyone who has known Gianni thinks the same way.” His is the more explicit stance of the Versace family, which a couple of months ago had issued a statement that was still very clear about its position towards the production of Fx.
“The Versace family has never authorized or been involved in the TV series on the death of Mr. Versace,” the statement reads. “Since Versace did not authorize the book from which the show was taken nor took part in writing the screenplay, this series must only be considered a fictional work.”
The Assassination of Gianni Versace, however, got the job done, attracting the attention of the press and the public, even if the latter was lower than the first season of the show, which told the trial of O.J. Simpson and that was seen by over 3 million viewers, against almost two million in the second season.
The next seasons of American Crime Story
Despite this, FX can be said to be fully satisfied with the series, so that two other seasons are already in the pipeline: the third will tell the events following the Urano Katrina in Lousiana (a series of changes in the race has forced the production to review the entire project ), while the fourth will be focused on the scandal of the then President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.
The brother Santo calls The Assassination of Gianni Versace “illustrated crap”