Versace Family Slams 'American Crime Story' in Second Statement

The Versace family has issued a second statement in response to the upcoming season of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.

The family first issued a statement earlier in the week, breaking their silence on the portrayal of Gianni Versace‘s murder. FX responded with their own statement.

“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,” the statement, provided to Just Jared, began. “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,” the statement concluded.

Versace – starring Edgar Ramirez, Penelope Cruz, Darren Criss, and Ricky Martin – premieres on FX on January 17.