Gianni Versace's long-time partner, Antonio D'Amico, has some problems with the portrayal of his and the late designer's relationship in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
"Significant parts of the [series] on Gianni Versace’s murder do not reflect the reality of the events that took place," D’Amico told People in a new statement. "I feel — together with those who know me well — that my character … is a misrepresentation of myself and what our relationship was like," he added.
D’Amico—who's played by Ricky Martin, while Versace is played by Édgar Ramírez—especially had issues with the scene where the killer, Andrew Cunanan, meets with Versace at an opera house in San Francisco, following their first meeting at a nightclub.
D'Amico clarified that that onscreen moment "is pure fantasy as I was with Gianni — together with a number of other 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."
He added, "That supposed meeting never took place. At least not on that day and in that setting." He also noted that Versace didn't drink alcohol, so that moment of him sipping champagne in the theater is "fictitious."
D'Amico also shot down the implications that he and Versace wanted to start a family. For example, in one scene, Donatella (Penelope Cruz) berates Antonio for not being able to provide Gianni with kids.
"Neither Gianni nor I were looking to get married or to have children," he said. "All we wanted was to live our relationship in the open — as we did. We were more than happy to have the nieces and nephews that we had and were not seeking children of our own."
D'Amico and Versace were together for 15 years at the time of the designer's death. Though he kept fairly to himself following Gianni's murder, he's now opening up to protect his former partner's legacy.
His statement arrives a few weeks after the Versace family publicly denounced American Crime Story's depiction of the designers life and killing as a "work of fiction." However, showrunner Ryan Murphy disagreed with that comment. "It’s based on a very acclaimed nonfiction book called Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth that has been vetted for almost two decades," he responded in a red carpet interview.
D'Amico also previously spoke out against the show before it premiered. In July, he called out one shot where the onscreen Antonio finds Gianni after he's killed and holds him. In real life, D'Amico was one of the first people to find Versace after the shooting, but he says that portrayal of his reaction was incorrect.
"The picture of Ricky Martin holding the body in his arms is ridiculous," he told The Guardian in July. "Maybe it’s the director’s poetic licence, but that is not how I reacted."
However, in September, Martin revealed that he got to speak to D'Amico to better understand his role.
