Was Gianni Versace HIV Positive? The Answer Is More Complicated Than You May Think

Though Season 2 of FX’s American Crime Story is called The Assassination of Gianni Versace, the iconic designer largely takes a backseat to Andrew Cunanan’s arc in the miniseries’ overall narrative. That all changes in Episode 2. “Manhunt” is one of the series’ only episodes that focuses almost exclusively on Gianni Versace‘s life, work, and relationships.

It’s also the episode that asks some of the most divisive questions in the entire series — was the real Gianni Versace HIV positive? Did Gianni Versace have AIDS? The answer to this largely depends on who you ask. Consider this your factual guide to some of the biggest questions and contradictions haunting both Versace’s death and the way he’s portrayed by Edgar Ramirez in this miniseries.

Was Gianni Versace HIV positive?

This seems to be one of the biggest points of contention from the Versace family. In Marueen Orth’s book, Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History, the reporter makes the case that Versace was HIV positive at the time of his death. The Assassination of Gianni Versace, which draws largely from Orth’s book, presents the same narrative. Vulgar Favors devotes an entire chapter to Versace’s status as HIV positive, called “The Secret.” It examines how this diagnosis to the face, spirit, and head of the Versace company could have possibly affected Gianni Versace SpA’s addition to the Milan Bourse and New York Stock Exchange. In both the book and in recent interviews, Orth claims she learned about Versace’s HIV status from a medical examiner after Versace’s death.

“I was told on the record by the lead detective on Miami Beach that he had heard from the medical examiner who did the blood work that he was [HIV-positive],” Orth said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “And it also goes along with other people who told me that he was very weak at one time and he needed [partner] Antonio to help him walk, and they came over to his house when he was having breakfast and he had 27 bottles of pills in front of him. Now, does that mean they’re for HIV? But the blood thing from on record from the Miami Beach, that’s pretty [solid].”

Conversely, the Versace family has denied these claims as well as both Vulgar Favors‘ and The Assassination of Gianni Versace‘s validity. In a statement, the Versace family said, “Orth makes assertions about Gianni Versace’s medical condition based on a person who claims he reviewed a postmortem test result, but she admits it would have been illegal for the person to have reviewed the report in the first place (if it existed at all).”

Long story short, it’s unclear if the real Gianni Versace was HIV positive. However, in Ryan Murphy‘s universe, the designer was.

Did Gianni Versace transmit HIV to Andrew Cunanan?

Before Andrew Cunanan killed himself and an autopsy could be performed, this was one on the most popular theories about why Cunanan murdered Gianni Versace. However, it was ultimately found that Cunanan wasn’t HIV positive, throwing this theory out the window. It’s still unclear why Cunanan murdered Versace or even if the two men met each other prior to Versace’s death. Again, the FX series speculates they did meet each other, but as Cunanan was known to lie about glamorous elements of his life that did not exist and the Versace family denies this meeting, it’s next to impossible to know the truth.

Did the real Donatella Versace and Antonio D’Amico fight?

The rocky relationship portrayed between Donatella Versace (Penélope Cruz) and Antonio D’Amico (Ricky Martin) isn’t a work of fiction. It’s very much grounded in reality. Of course, a lot of the pair’s more heated arguments have been imagined by FX’s writers, but there’s evidence that the two have a strained relationship. During an interview with the New York Times in 1999, Versace summed up her feelings about her brother’s partner, saying, “My relationship with Antonio is exactly as it was when Gianni was alive. I respected him as the boyfriend of my brother, but I never liked him as a person. So the relationship stayed the same.”

Will Allegra Versace Beck be in The Assassination of Gianni Versace?

No. As the New York Post reports, there was originally a scene with Allegra, but it was cut at the request of Donatella Versace.

What’s the deal with the fliers of Andrew Cunanan?

There was a two month gap between Cunanan’s murders of William Reese and Gianni Versace. During most of that time, Cunanan lived in Miami, was an active part of the night life, and actually used his real name on several occasions all while he was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list. So how did he get away with all of this? A lot of it had to do with an overworked police force and general incompetence. Fliers with Cunanan’s name and information were printed out, and they were supposed to be distributed to local gay night clubs. However, that didn’t happen. The fliers, which likely would have been useful and could have arguably prevented Versace’s murder, were found in an officer’s trunk.

Stream The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on FXNOW and FX+