Gianni Versace was openly homosexual since 1987.
In an episode of the Irish sitcom Father Ted, one of the main characters, Dougal, refers to Versace's death by saying, "God, Ted, do you remember that fella who was so good at fashion they had to shoot him?"Eminem makes references to Versace's murder and his homosexuality in the song "Criminal" (the closing song on his 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP) through the lyrics "Hey, it's me, Versace! Whoops, somebody shot me! And I was just checkin' the mail
Cunanan was obsessed with the designer and often bragged about his close "friendship" with Versace, although this was symptomatic of Cunanan's delusions of grandeur: he often falsely claimed to have met celebrities

