Lady Gaga Will Not Play Donatella Versace in American Crime Story Season 3

Lady Gaga will not play Donatella Versace in the third season of Ryan Murphy's true-crime anthology series American Crime Story, Murphy told reporters Thursday at the Television Critics Association winter previews.

The denial comes after several reports last year stated that Gaga would be portraying the fashion icon, whom she considers a personal friend and professional collaborator.

According to Murphy, it was "not really" ever an option for Gaga to portray Donatella Versace. "She's a friend," he told Variety. "But she's very busy this next year. She's doing Super Bowl and then she's doing A Star Is Born and I believe that she's going on tour. And when you're going to do a show like Versace, it's a five-month commitment, it's a very big show, we're shooting it all over the world. So ... with her schedule, I knew that it would never had worked. But I would love to work with her on something in the future."

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The third season of American Crime Story, which debuted last year with the award-winning The People v. O.J. Simpson, will focus on the 1997 murder of designer Gianni Versace, Donatella's brother. No official castings for the season have been announced.

Season 2 of American Crime Story, which will chronicle Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, will premiere on FX in 2018. The Versace season will also air in 2018.

While Lady Gaga may not be participating in American Crime Story Season 3, it's likely that she will be returning for Season 7 of Murphy's flagship series, American Horror Story. The singer is also scheduled to be the halftime performer at this year's Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 5.