Last Updated: October 20, 2023, 2:03 pm IST
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her former partner Andrea Giambruno react ahead of the meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, January 10, 2023. (Reuters File Photo)
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni separates from partner Andrea Giambruno due to his controversial comments. Relationship ends after almost 10 years
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has parted ways with her television journalist partner Andrea Giambruno, who has drawn criticism in recent weeks for sexist comments made on and off air.
“My relationship with Andrea Giambruno, which lasted almost 10 years, ends here,” Meloni wrote on her social media accounts on Friday. “Our paths have diverged for some time, and the time has come to acknowledge it,” she added. The couple have a seven-year-old daughter.
My relationship with Andrea Giambruno, which lasted almost ten years, ends here. I thank him for the splendid years we spent together, for the difficulties we went through, and for giving me the most important thing in my life, which is our daughter Ginevra.… pic.twitter.com/1IpvfN8MgA— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) October 20, 2023
Who is Andrea Giambruno, Meloni’s now ex-partner?
Giambruno is the presenter of a news programme transmitted by Mediaset, part of the MFE media group owned by the heirs of the late Silvio Berlusconi, the former premier and Meloni ally.
Earlier this week, another Mediaset show broadcast off-air excerpts from Giambruno’s programme showing him using foul language and appearing to make advances to a female colleague. “Why didn’t I meet you before?”, he tells her. In a recording aired on Thursday, Giambruno is heard boasting about an affair and telling female colleagues they can work for him if they take part in group sex.
‘Avoid Getting Drunk, Losing Senses’: Remarks by Italy PM’s Partner on Rape Spark Row
The TV journalist had already been widely criticised in August for apparent victim-blaming comments following a gang rape case. “If you go dancing, you have every right to get drunk – there shouldn’t be any kind of misunderstanding and any kind of problem – but if you avoid getting drunk and losing your senses, you might also avoid running into certain problems and coming across a wolf,” he said during his programme.
After receiving criticism, Giambruno earlier had responded by saying he did not justify the act of rape, that he called it ‘deplorable’ and had described rapists as ‘beasts’. He also said that he “never said that it is legitimate for men to rape women who are drunk.” His comments had led to severe backlash from the public and politicians.
(With agency inputs)
