Edgar Ramirez, who plays the late fashion designer Gianni Versace in FX's upcoming American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, says homophobia killed Versace.

Versace was gunned down outside his lavish Miami Beach home by Andrew Cunanan (played by Darren Criss), a 27-year-old man who idolized Versace and was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

Authorities believe Cunanan killed five men but, according to Ramirez, stopping him wasn't a priority for authorities because of his gay connections.

“For a number of reasons, the authorities at the time never considered Cunanan to be a public threat because he was only killing homosexuals,” Ramirez told OUT. “The word assassination has a political and a social overtone because Versace was targeted. In a way, this was a tragedy that could have been prevented. Basically, homophobia killed Gianni Versace.”

“This is a tragedy. It should have never happened,” he added.

Ricky Martin portrays Versace's longtime partner, Antonio D'Amico.

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace premieres Wednesday on FX.