Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano resigned on Friday. The minister, who came from the ranks of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing populist ruling party Fratelli d’Italia, drew the conclusions of a wide-ranging scandal surrounding an affair with an influencer that has been making headlines in Italy for days.
Influencer Maria Rosaria Boccia, 42, claimed the minister had appointed her as an adviser to the Ministry of Culture for the G7 Culture Ministers’ Summit, hosted by Italy in Pompeii from September 19 to 21. In that role, she claimed, she was given access to confidential documents.
The influencer’s revenge campaign
The scandal broke out when the Ministry of Culture in Rome denied Boccia’s appointment. The sidelined influencer immediately began her campaign of revenge: she claimed to have accompanied the minister on several trips paid for by the Ministry of Culture. This was disputed by Sangiuliano.
However, on Wednesday he admitted on television that he had a relationship with Boccia that has since ended. The minister apologized to his wife in tears.
A libel lawsuit is looming
According to Boccia, there are people who are blackmailing Sangiuliano because of favors they received from him. “I heard conversations and read messages from people who, in my opinion, were blackmailing the minister,” Boccia claimed on social media. Because of these statements, she is now facing a lawsuit for defamation. “The minister intends to take legal action against those who describe him as a victim of blackmail,” Boccia’s lawyer Silverio Sica said on Friday.
Not the first faux pas
The influencer dispute is another blow to Sangiuliano’s image. In April, he embarrassed himself with a statement about the sailor and American explorer Christopher Columbus. During a cultural event in Taormina, Sicily, the minister claimed that “Columbus wanted to sail around the world to reach India, based on the theories of Galileo Galilei.” However, the polymath was only born in Pisa in 1564, while Columbus embarked on his first voyage to America in August 1492.
The Minister of Culture was criticised in April when he made a mistake in presenting a new archaeological route in the centre of Rome. He claimed that Times Square was in London and not New York. In a statement, he later attributed the mistake to the emotions of the moment. At the same time, the politician expressed his intention to be more careful with his statements in the future.
Meloni needs to remodel her closet
After Sangiuliano’s resignation, there could be a government reshuffle in the Meloni cabinet, which has been in power for almost two years. European Minister Raffaele Fitto is moving to Brussels as EU commissioner, so his department needs to be filled. Meloni could also replace Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche. The minister from the ranks of the Meloni party is under investigation in connection with the fraudulent bankruptcy of a publishing group that Santanche led before her time as minister.
Source: Krone
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