Italian Journalist Giulia Cortese Ordered To Pay 5,000 Euros In Damages To PM Giorgia Meloni For Mocking Height

Italian Journalist Giulia Cortese Ordered To Pay 5,000 Euros In Damages To PM Giorgia Meloni For Mocking Height

The newswoman can appeal against the sentence.

A Milan court has ordered journalist Giulia Cortese to pay damages of 5,000 euros ($5,465) to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for making fun of her in a social media post.

In October 2021, the journalist was also given a suspended fine of 1,200 euros for a jibe on Twitter (now X) for ‘body shaming’ Meloni for her height.

The Prime Minister took legal action against Cortese after the two women clashed on social media.

Meloni, whose far-right political party Brothers of Italy was in opposition at the time, took exception when Cortese published a mocked-up photo of her with a picture of the late fascist leader Benito Mussolini in the background.

The journalist had responded with tweets including, "You don't scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you're only 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall. I can't even see you."

On various websites, Meloni's height is mentioned between 1.58 m and 1.63 m.

Her lawyer said that the prime minister would donate the damages she receives, to charity.

Meloni also took journalists to court earlier. In 2023, a Rome court fined best-selling author Roberto Saviano 1,000 euros plus legal expenses after he insulted her on television in 2021 over her hardline stance on illegal immigration.

Journalists at Italian state broadcaster RAI went on strike in May protesting against the Meloni government for ‘suffocating control’ over their work.