Andrea Giambruno, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni's ex-partner, has been dropped as host of a national TV show after sexist off-air comments were leaked to another programme.
TV company Mediaset said he would maintain an editorial role on the show. Ms Meloni announced last week that she was separating from her long-term partner after a recording was broadcast on a satirical TV show.
Mediaset is owned by the family of late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Striscia La Notizia – The News Strip – last week broadcast a leaked recording of Giambruno talking to female colleagues about an affair he was having, and appeared to proposition one woman for group sex.
Mediaset said Giambruno was “sorry for the embarrassment and discomfort caused by his behaviour”, adding that he had agreed to leave his screen role on Diario del giorno (Diary of the Day) on Mediaset channel Rete4.
The statement indicated there would be no disciplinary proceedings against the former presenter. Gambruno's presenting role has, for the moment, been replaced by journalist Manuela Boselli.
Italian reports have speculated that the fallout over Giambruno's leaked remarks is contributing to tensions within the Meloni government. Forza Italia, the party founded by Berlusconi, is one of three parties in Meloni's right-wing coalition and the former prime minister's eldest son, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, is head of Mediaset.
Both the family and Forza Italia deny any links to the leaking of the remarks, which have embarrassed Georgia Meloni, who took office in October last year.
“The Berlusconi family was surprised and sorry for what happened after the report aired on Mediaset, but those responsible are independent,” said Deputy Prime Minister, Antonio Tajani, who replaced Silvio Berlusconi as party leader after his death last June.
Ms Meloni said last week that she and Giambruno, 41, had separated after a relationship lasting almost 10 years. The couple met in 2015 and have a seven-year-old daughter, Ginevra.
The Italian prime minister, who is leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, is known for her strong belief in traditional Catholic family values and has said in the past that a child should have a mother and father.
Antonio Ricci, the director of Striscia La Notizia, had earlier told Ansa news agency that Ms Meloni would “one day discover that I have done her a favour”. According to Ansa, Giambruno's colleagues said he was known to joke about his relationship with the prime minister. Further embarrassing recordings emerging could not be ruled out, the agency reported.
— CutC by bbc.com
