FX Network Chairman John Landgraf announced Thursday during the Television Critics Association (TCA) winter press tour that the Clinton-focused “American Crime Story: Impeachment” will no longer premiere on September 27, 2020, as previously reported.
“We won’t be physically done actually shooting the episodes until October, because of the long production,” he said to reporters during the event in Pasadena, California, reported TV Line. “So I think we initially announced that we’d air in September, and I don’t think that’s reasonable, frankly, given that it won’t finish production until October.”
The Ryan Murphy-produced project, set to star Clive Owen as Clinton and have Beanie Feldstein play the role of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, is expected to cover Clinton’s notorious Oval Office affair and his subsequent impeachment on accusations of perjury and obstruction of justice. Lewinsky was also reported to have been hired as a producer for the season.
“The factor determining that [hold up] is Ryan’s availability,” Landgraf said, as reported by Rotten Tomatoes. “The fact that we won’t be done by September is determined by his availability.”
FX previously came under fire after it was announced in August 2019 that “American Crime Story: Impeachment” would reach viewer’s screens in September 2020 - just weeks before the November 6, 2020, presidential election.
There is nothing that Trump would like more than to turn the homestretch of 2020 into a revisitation of the Clintons. Don't do this, @FXNetworks. It's a disservice to our fragile political system and to the talented people involved in this show.
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) August 6, 2019
Landgraf contended at the time that it is “frankly hysterical to think the series is going to influence the election.”
“This [anthology] series is about moments in time that involved crimes that can be looked at now with nuance and character. I feel completely unabashed about my pride … it’s an excellent story,” he said during the TCA summer press tour in August 2019, according to Fortune.
The former US president has remained a hot topic in the past several months due to his ties with the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his repeated excursions with the now-deceased billionaire sex offender.
Sputnik recently reported on the emergence of new images that feature Clinton with alleged “madam” Ghislaine Maxwell and posing with Chauntae Davies, who accused Epstein of rape during an interview with The Sun in November 2019. Maxwell, reportedly a past girlfriend of Epstein’s, is alleged to have procured underage women for the billionaire’s sex ring.
“Looking back at these images now, it raises a lot of questions about why Bill Clinton was using the plane and what perhaps Jeffrey may have been trying to accomplish by having him around,” Davies told The Sun earlier this month. When asked about her own personal experience with Clinton, Davies described the former president as a “complete gentleman” and denied having any improper relations with him.