Gianni Versace's Partner Antonio D’Amico Calls 'American Crime Story' a 'Misrepresentation'

Gianni Versace’s longtime partner, Antonio D’Amico, is not on board with the depiction of the late designer’s life and death in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. He blasted the FX series, saying, “Significant parts of the [series] on Gianni Versace’s murder do not reflect the reality of the events that took place.” D’Amico, 59, also said, “I feel — together with those who know me well — that my character... is a misrepresentation of myself and what our relationship with was like. D’Amico is played by Ricky Martin in the series. Versace is played by Edgar Ramírez.

More specifically, D’Amico mentions a scene in which his Versace’s killer, Andrew Cunanan, meets him onstage in San Francisco. D’Amico told People, the scene, which is told from Cunanan’s perspective, “is pure fantasy as I was with Gianni — together with a number of people, like the ladies from the San Francisco Opera council — for the entire time he was at the theatre and then we went back to our hotel together.

The fact that The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is more a work of fiction than a reflection of reality may be the only thing upon which D’Amico and the Versace family can agree. The family had previously released a statement that they had “neither authorized nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming TV series about the death of Mr. Gianni Versace,” and as such the “TV series should only be considered a work of fiction.” After Gianni’s murder, D’Amico and the Versace family entered a legal dispute over how much money D’Amico was entitled as per the departed designer’s will.