Journalist told to pay damages for mocking Italian PM’s height
An Italian journalist has been ordered to pay Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni €5,000 (£4,210) in damages over social media posts mocking her height.
A judge ruled that two tweets by Giulia Cortese, who was also given a suspended fine of €1,200, were defamatory and constituted “body shaming.”
The incident stemmed from an exchange where Ms. Cortese referred to Ms. Meloni as a “little woman” and said: “I can’t even see you.”
In response to the verdict, Ms. Cortese stated that the Italian government had a “serious problem with freedom of expression and journalistic dissent.”
Their conflict began in October 2021 when Ms. Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party was still in opposition. Ms. Cortese had posted a doctored image on X, formerly Twitter, showing Ms. Meloni in front of a bookshelf with a framed photo of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini added.
Ms. Meloni described the image in a Facebook post as of “unique gravity” and announced she would take legal action.
Later that day, Ms. Cortese said she deleted the image upon realizing it was fake but accused Ms. Meloni of creating a “media pillory” against her, calling the Facebook post evidence that she was a “little woman.”
She later said in a separate post: “You don’t scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you’re only 1.2m [3ft 9in] tall. I can’t even see you.”
Ms Meloni’s height is reported in Italian media to be 1.63m (5ft 3in).
Ms Cortese was cleared for posting the initial image but convicted over the later tweets.
She has the option to appeal but has not yet confirmed whether she will do so.
Ms Meloni’s lawyer said she would donate any money she received to charity.
Responding to the verdict on X, Ms Cortese wrote: “Italy’s government has a serious problem with freedom of expression and journalistic dissent.
“This country seems to get closer to [Viktor] Orbán’s Hungary: these are bad times for independent journalists and opinion leaders. Let’s hope for better days ahead. We won’t give up!”
She later added that she was “Italian and proud to be” but that “we deserve better than this appalling and shameful government”.
