Italy’s “family-first” prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, broke up with her TV journalist girlfriend after he made lewd comments, including grabbing her genitals when she suggested co-hosting a “threesome or foursome,” and was forced to leave her TV station. This led to the suspension of broadcasting. show.
Meloni announced on social media on Friday that he had split from Andrea Giambruno, who is also the father of his 7-year-old daughter.
“This is the end of my relationship with Andrea Giambruno, which lasted almost 10 years,” Meloni said after a video of him performing an obscene act during a commercial break on Mediaset’s popular show “Stricia La Notizia” went viral. I wrote it two days later.
“Thank you for the wonderful years we spent together, for the hardships we went through, and for giving me the most important thing in my life: my daughter Ginebra.”
Giambruno said Friday through his agent that he has “agreed” with Mediaset to cancel his show due to the scandal. He wasn’t in the anchor chair during Friday afternoon’s taping of the show. Mediaset told CNN affiliate SKY24 that it is “investigating the facts” surrounding Giambruno’s alleged actions.
The video, filmed in front of a live audience during a commercial break and posted to the show’s social media accounts and website, shows Giambruno walking around the set and asking his female co-host if she has a boyfriend. The video shows him asking. She said she does and that he had asked her before.
The man then asked her if she wanted to have group sex, asked if he could touch her genitals, and did so while talking to her, according to a video released by the show. The co-host can be seen looking down at her desk during the comments.
Mediaset, owned by the late politician Silvio Berlusconi, has long been criticized for broadcasting sexist content and frequently releases behind-the-scenes videos of its popular shows.
In a social media post, Meloni wrote: I will protect who we were, I will protect our friendship, I will protect at all costs the 7-year-old girl who loves her mother and loves her father as much as I could not love my own daughter. . ”
According to Meloni’s autobiography, Meloni’s father was a drug addict who spent time in prison. Many members of her coalition government, including Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini and Interior Minister Antonio Taggiani, as well as her own party, the Italian Brothers, called her “hug” in support of her personal pain. tweeted.
She added: “I don’t have anything else to say about this,” and asked her critics not to exploit domestic issues.
Mr Giambruno previously embarrassed the Prime Minister by suggesting that a spate of gang rapes of young women could have been prevented if the girls had avoided alcohol.
“If you’re going dancing, you have every right to get drunk,” he said on his TV show, which Mediaset canceled this week after a video of his behavior was leaked.
“But if you avoid getting drunk and passing out, you’ll probably avoid getting into trouble, because then the wolves will find you.”
In response to a question about Giambruno’s comments about violence against women, Meloni said he had been “misunderstood.”
“He’s misunderstood. I don’t tell him what to say because I believe in freedom of the press,” she said.
Meloni is known for her focus on traditional families despite not being married to Giambruno, and for her criminalization of surrogacy and the removal of birth certificates in cities where her party has a majority. It has been widely criticized for its focus on restricting the rights of same-sex parents by removing one parent’s name.
Meloni’s spokesperson and political party did not respond to calls, texts and emails seeking comment. He sent a text message to Giambruno but received no response. Mediaset’s public relations department confirmed that his show had been suspended, but did not say why.