Donatella Versace Distances Herself from Lifetime Biopic
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Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Donatella Versace has famously called former SNL star Maya Rudolph’s parody of her “hilarious,” but the Italian designer is not laughing about a new Lifetime biopic.
In a statement to WWD, a rep for her company said, “Versace has neither authorized nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming TV movie about Mrs. Versace.”
The film, which stars Gina Gershon as a rather convincing-looking Versace, portrays the 58-year-old designer’s personal and professional struggles following the 1997 murder of her brother Gianni Versace.
House of Versace, which is set to premiere Saturday on Lifetime, is based on the 2010 book by Deborah Ball, House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder and Survival.
In the statement, a rep for the designer label noted, “Since Versace did not authorize the book on which it is based, the movie should only be seen as a work of fiction.”
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