Lady Gaga is rumored to be taking on the role of Donatella Versace in the upcoming seriesVersace/Cunanan: American Crime Story. The program will revolve around the 1997 assassination of legendary designer Gianni Versace by serial killer Andrew Cunanan. While there’s no official confirmation from Gaga’s team, it’s not too unlikely given her relationship with the show’s executive producer, Ryan Murphy.
Murphy cast the the singer in American Horror Story: Hotel, and she joined the anthology again this year for its sixth season, American Horror Story: Roanoke. It would certainly be no surprise to see the pair working together once more.
However, there’s also cause to doubt the reports. The Versace family aren’t fans of unauthorized biopics about the late founder of their house, and they haven’t yet come out in support of this America Crime Story season. When US cable network Lifetime aired the film House of Versace, the label responded by saying it had “neither authorized nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming TV movie about Mrs. Versace…the movie should only be seen as a work of fiction.”
Given Donatella and Gaga are close friends, we can’t really imagine the singer starring in a project that didn’t have the designer’s blessing. In fact, Gaga is so dedicated to the Versace creative director that she wrote anARTPOP love song about her, simply title “Donatella.” The designer’s response? “I am honored to be her friend and of course I love the song!”
The pair became close in 2013, and Gaga led a Versace campaign the following year. At this year’s Met Gala, the pair walked the rad carpet hand-in-hand. We’re interested to see how this story develops.
Credits
Text Isabelle Hellyer
Photography Nick Knight [The 30th Birthday Issue, n. 308, 2010]