Italian PM Giorgia Meloni announces end of relationship with partner after his sexist comments

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday (Oct 20) announced that she had separated from her longtime beau and television journalist partner Andrea Giambruno, who recently was criticised for making sexist comments on air.

“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,” Meloni wrote on X and Facebook.

“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. 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," she added.

Meloni and her partner have a young daughter together.

Giambruno's sexist comments on air

Giambruno has been working as the presenter of a news programme which was aired by Mediaset. Mediaset is part of the MFE media group, which is owned by the heirs of the late Silvio Berlusconi, who is the country's former premier and Meloni ally.

On two days of this week, off-air excerpts from the programme of Giambruno were broadcasted on another Mediaset show in which he was seen making use of foul language and appeared to make advances towards a female colleague.

"Why didn't I meet you before?", he was seen telling her. In the second and more explicit recording which was aired on Thursday, Giambruno can be heard speaking with pride about an affair and saying to his female colleagues that they can work for him if they are willing to take part in group sex.

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In August, the TV journalist was criticised widely for apparent victim-blaming comments after 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 stated, during his programme.

After that episode, Meloni stated that people should not judge her for the comments made by her partner and that she is not willing to answer any questions related to his behaviour in future.

(With inputs from agencies)

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