LONG BEACH — If Ricky Martin, Darren Criss or Penelope Cruz are spotted at The Silver Fox today or Friday, don’t be surprised.

The venerable gay bar is substituting for a Miami Beach location in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” the second installment of the Ryan Murphy anthology. His first story was “The People v. O.J. Simpson.”

The Silver Fox will be closed both days for filming, according to the bar’s Facebook page. It’s unclear what scenes will be filmed at the Silver Fox.


“The Assassination of Gianni Versace” will focus on the life and murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace, who was killed on the steps of his home in Miami Beach on July 15, 1997, by serial murderer Andrew Cunanan, who killed five other people that year. Cunanan committed suicide on a houseboat eight days after killing Versace.

Edgar Ramirez (“Joy” and “Girl on a Train”) portrays Gianni Versace, “Glee” alum Criss plays Cunanan, Cruz portrays Versace’s sister, Donatella, and Martin — in his first gay TV role — plays Gianni’s lover, Antonio D’Amico.

The series, scheduled to air on FX in 2018, is based on the book “Vulgar Favors” by Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth.


In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Murphy said he will use the series as a lens to examine sexuality and homophobia in the 1990s.

“The more I had read about it, the more I was startled by the fact that Cunanan really was only allowed to get away with it because of homophobia,” Murphy told the magazine. “There was this great apathy about it, and I think part of that was because it seemed like gay people were disposable in our culture.”