Ryan Murphy isn’t touching the Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton scandal after all.
The showrunner said he’s scrapping the proposed season of his FX anthology series “American Crime Story,” which would have followed the story that rocked the nation in the ’90s about a then-intern’s affair with the then-POTUS, according to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Wednesday. The report came on the same day History decided to scrap the Clinton impeachment drama series “Breach.”
Jeffrey Toobin’s 2000 best-seller, “A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal that Nearly Brought Down a President,” had been optioned as the source material for the season over a year ago. But Murphy decided against going through with his version of Lewinsky’s tale. And he said that to her face.
“I told her, ‘Nobody should tell your story but you, and it’s kind of gross if they do,’” Murphy told THR of discussing the matter with Lewinsky at a party in Hollywood. “‘If you want to produce it with me, I would love that; but you should be the producer and you should make all the goddamn money.’”
Luckily, the “American Crime Story” team — which includes executive producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson — have at least one story locked in and ready to go. The upcoming third season, which centers on Hurricane Katrina, is currently in production and was originally slated for release ahead of the sophomore installment, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” but wasn’t ready in time.
Representatives for FX and 20th Century Fox declined to comment on Murphy’s decision to scrap the season when reached by TheWrap.