Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano resigned on Friday, September 6, embroiled in an affair involving an influencer who had secretly filmed his wanderings under the gold of the ministry using smart glasses.
“After much reflection, during these painful days (…) I have decided to resign irrevocably from my post as Minister of Culture,” wrote Gennaro Sangiuliano to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a letter published by his ministry.
Public apology
Gennaro Sangiuliano is the first minister of Giorgia Meloni’s government to resign, less than two weeks before a meeting, from September 19 to 21, of the culture ministers of the G7 countries, which Italy is chairing this year.
He also announced that he would contact the public prosecutor’s office to defend “his honour” and “demonstrate my absolute transparency and that I acted correctly”, without specifying who would be targeted by his complaint.
“I sincerely thank Gennaro Sangiuliano (…) for the extraordinary work accomplished so far which has allowed the Italian government to obtain important results in the revival and enhancement of the great Italian cultural heritage,” reacted Giorgia Meloni in a press release.
On Wednesday, in an attempt to save his job, Gennaro Sangiuliano, 62, sobbed and engaged in an exercise in contrition that was widely mocked in the press, explaining the circumstances of his meeting with Maria Rosaria Boccia, 41, who flooded social networks with accounts of their relationship.
“It became a romantic relationship” last May, he admitted, saying he ended it “at the end of July, beginning of August.”
“I ask Giorgia Meloni for forgiveness”
Maria Rosaria Boccia sparked a scandal by publishing on Instagram at the end of August her alleged appointment as advisor to the Minister of Culture for major events, something that Gennaro Sangiuliano was quick to deny.
Maria Rosaria Boccia responded by publishing photos of herself with the minister at numerous public events, emails, boarding passes, etc.
To each of the minister’s statements, a married man who appears in some photos published by Maria Rosaria Boccia without his wedding ring, the young woman responded, weakening her defense a little more each day.
In his candid interview on Wednesday, he assured, bank statements in hand, that he had personally paid all the expenses related to Maria Rosaria Boccia’s various trips with him, and that not a single public euro had been spent.
“The first person I have to apologize to, and she is an exceptional person, is my wife,” he said.
“I also ask forgiveness from Giorgia Meloni who trusted me for the embarrassment I caused for her and the government,” he added, still having the support of his peers at that time.
His successor is Alessandro Giuli, president of the MAXXI Foundation, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts.
“He deserved this position, he is a very competent person. I am really sorry,” Maria Rosaria Boccia said in an interview with the television channel La7 on Friday evening after learning of Gennaro Sangiuliano’s resignation.
“I am not afraid of an investigation because I told the truth,” she added in reference to the complaint announced by Gennaro Sangiuliano, claiming not to have “spied on the minister because I worked with the minister.”
- BFMTV.com
