The Versace Family Rips "American Crime Story"
The Versace family has been in a war of words with FX and Ryan Murphy over the upcoming show, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. On Monday, the family released a statement calling the show “a work of fiction,” created without their approval. Now, they have gone even further, calling the show’s source material inaccurate.
The show was based on the book Vulgar Favors, a best-seller by Maureen Orth. FX released a statement saying they “stand by the meticulous reporting of Ms. Orth,” and Murphy said the book “has been vetted for almost two decades.”
A new statement released Wednesday shows that things are still contentious between the family and the show’s creators. The statement calls the book “full of gossip and speculation” and “full of contradictions.” The statement also refers to the show’s portrayal of a “medical condition,” and Entertainment Weeklyreports that they are referring to Orth’s reporting that Versace was HIV-positive at the time of his death; that claim is reportedly depicted in the show, but the Versace family says her reporting “ignores contrary information” they provided.
Read the statement in full below:
“As we have said, the Versace family has neither authorized nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming TV series about the death of Mr. Gianni Versace, which should only be considered as a work of fiction. The company producing the series claims it is relying on a book by Maureen Orth, but the Orth book itself is full of gossip and speculation. Orth never received any information from the Versace family and she has no basis to make claims about the intimate personal life of Gianni Versace or other family members. Instead, in her effort to create a sensational story, she presents second-hand hearsay that is full of contradictions.
"As just one example, Orth makes assertions about Gianni Versace’s medical condition based on a person who claims he reviewed a post-mortem test result, but she admits it would have been illegal for the person to have reviewed the report in the first place (if it existed at all). In making her lurid claims, she ignores contrary information provided by members of Mr. Versace’s family, who lived and worked closely with him and were in the best position to know the facts of his life.
"Gianni Versace was a brave and honest man, who engaged in humanitarian work for the benefit of others. Of all the possible portrayals of his life and legacy, it is sad and reprehensible that the producers have chosen to present the distorted and bogus version created by Maureen Orth.
The Versace family will issue no further comment on the matter.”
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