TV series traces Versace assassination

(ANSA) - Los Angeles, January 12 - The second season of American Crime Story, "The Assassination of Gianni Versace", is coming to Fox Crime in Italy on January 19.
    The series tells the story of the tragic death of the Italian fashion designer on July 15, 1997, on the steps of his Miami home at the hands of Andrew Cunanan.
    Cunanan was found dead a few days later of a self-inflicted gunshot on a Miami houseboat.
    The top-notch cast includes Edgar Ramirez as Gianni Versace; Ricky Martin as his boyfriend, Antonio D'Amico; and Penelope Cruz as Versace's sister Donatella.
    "Versace mixed sexuality, glamour and opulence as no one ever had before. He was a revolutionary," Ramirez said.
    The second season is directed by Ryan Murphy, who also directed the first season, "The People vs. OJ Simpson".
    The Versace family dissociated itself from the production in a statement, saying it neither authorised nor had any involvement in the series.
    "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 statement said.
    Murphy, however, said he is sure the family will be happy with the result.
    "Our work isn't as much about why Versace was killed as it is about why this assassination was able to occur," he said.
    "American Crime Story doesn't tell just the story of a crime but also tries to reconstruct the social conditions under which the crime took place".
    The most delicate topic is perhaps that of Versace discovering he was HIV-positive.
    Not long before his death, Versace had announced that he was homosexual but the diagnosis was another skeleton in the closet.
    "At that time, if you were HIV-positive, the world collapsed around you: you'd lose your job, your company, you'd be marginalised," Murphy said.
    "His company was about to go public on the stock market and Gianni was terrified. All of this will be told, but we will do it with all the necessary sensitivity, and it couldn't be any other way," he said.