Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she has separated from her partner Andrea Giambruno who has faced criticism for alleged sexist comments.
Ms Meloni, 46, took to her social media accounts on Friday to say her near decade-long relationship with television journalist Mr Giambruno “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,” the post read.
“Our paths have diverged for some time, and the time has come to acknowledge it.
“I will defend what we were, I will defend our friendship, and I will defend, at all costs, a seven-year-old girl who loves her mother and loves her father, as I was unable to love mine.
“I have nothing else to say about this.”
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Mr Giambruno holds his daughter at a ceremony in Rome
The announcement comes after Mr Giambruno, the presenter of an Italian news programme on broadcaster Mediaset, was embroiled in controversy for comments that emerged this week.
Another Mediaset show broadcast off-air excerpts on Wednesday, in which Mr Giambruno allegedly uses explicit language before appearing to make advances towards a female colleague, asking her: “Why didn’t I meet you before?”
A day later, another recording was released in which Mr Giambruno is apparently heard boasting about an affair and telling female colleagues they can work for him if they take part in group sex.
According to Sky TG24, the news channel owned by Sky Italia, the presenter is heard asking one colleague: “Can I touch my package while I’m talking to you?”
He then allegedly asks if a colleague knows that he is having an affair with someone else in the workplace, saying “all of Mediaset” already knows about it.
He adds: “We are looking for a third participant. Let’s do threesomes… even foursomes”, according to Sky TG24.
Release of vulgar remarks suggests deeper political matter at play
Like everyone else, Giorgia Meloni is entitled to a private life. But Meloni’s separation from her partner is bound to raise questions that range from annoying to embarrassing – and even politically awkward.
Andrea Giambruno’s comments would be vulgar and unacceptable in any context.
Coming from his nation’s “first gentleman”, they almost defy belief – it’s as if he’s pretending to be some kind of sitcom Italian stereotype from half a century ago. Except this wasn’t an act.
Meloni has been praised for acting quickly and, so it’s claimed, proving that women don’t have to accept being stuck in a bad relationship.
But this is also the prime minister who has claimed that the traditional family unit must be the bedrock of Italian life, despite never marrying her partner.
Her detractors will inevitably ask why it’s okay for her to be a single mother, while telling everyone else that it’s best if they’re married, heterosexual, and settled.
Then there’s the question of the coverage. Giambruno’s humiliation was down to tapes broadcast by Mediaset, the company set up by the late Silvio Berlusconi and now run by his adult children.
Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party is part of the coalition that keeps Meloni in power so the question is – did Mediaset release these s simply for their news value, or is there a deeper political matter at play?
With Silvio dead, for instance, are the Berlusconi children considering changing their political allegiances?
As ever in Italian politics, the manoeuvring happens in multiple dimensions. But at least Meloni has learnt one thing from previous political scandals – act fast. Giambruno, her partner for a decade, has very quickly been consigned to history.
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Mr Giambruno watches as Ms Meloni speaks in parliament
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,” he said during a broadcast.
“But if you avoid getting drunk and losing your senses, you might also avoid running into certain problems and coming across a wolf.”
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Mr Giambruno, whose TV career took off after Ms Meloni’s right-wing party took power in Italy in October 2022, denied victim blaming and said his comments had been taken out of context by critics.
He has yet to comment on the latest controversies publicised this week, nor on Ms Meloni’s update.
Ms Meloni said in August that she should not be judged for comments made by her partner, and that in future she would not answer questions about his behaviour.
She did not address any of the criticism levelled at Mr Giambruno in her most recent social media update.
She ended it with the message: “Ps. All those who hoped to weaken me by hitting me at home should know that however much the drop may hope to dig out the stone, the stone remains stone and the drop is only water.”
