Italy’s Prime Minister Meloni Announces Separation After Partner’s Controversial Comments

ROME – Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni announced her separation from her partner and the father of her daughter on Friday following his controversial comments and apparent admission to an affair. Meloni, 46, has been in a relationship with TV presenter Andrea Giambruno, 42, for almost a decade. The couple shares a seven-year-old daughter, Ginevra.

According to News Releases by Philippines News Agency, the announcement comes after off-air recordings were broadcast on a satirical TV show on Thursday night. In these recordings, Giambruno was heard making inappropriate comments to a female colleague and seemingly admitting to an affair with another. Meloni made the announcement in a statement, saying, “My relationship with Andrea Giambruno, which lasted almost 10 years, ends here.” She thanked him for the years they had spent together and for their daughter, stating that their paths had long since parted.

Meloni also issued a warning in her announcement, asserting that attempts “to weaken me by hitting me at home” would not succeed. Giambruno, who hosts a show on a Berlusconi channel, had also recently come under criticism for victim-blaming comments, stating that young women should not get drunk if they did not want to be raped.