by Laura Zangarini
The X-Mas T-shirt at Ballando rehearsals, the Rai “oversight”, Selvaggia Lucarelli’s coverage, the political controversy, the ban from the program and the announcement of a lawsuit
The apology for a post on Facebook on Sunday afternoon was not enough for Enrico Montesano to remain in the “Dancing with the Stars” competition. The timeline of the controversy that led to the actor’s elimination begins in the morning with a post from Selvaggia Lucarelli. The “Dancing” judge denounced on Twitter that Montesano showed up at the show’s rehearsals the day before with “the X-Mas T-shirt”. Which, if anyone escapes, is a military formation that fought alongside the Nazis against the partisans and a symbol of neo-fascism.” Two photos of Montesano accompany the post. You take him from behind: On the black T-shirt the motto of the X-Mas, “Memento audere semper”. Replicas are not long in coming. One of the first to condemn the gesture was RAI director Riccardo Laganà. Who writes in a note: «When outsourcing to external authors and production companies, it escapes editorial control. Bad news on Rai1, inadmissible for public service. We need respect for citizens and the constitution; I hope for serious action.” «Montesano addressed the No-Vax and asked them not to pay the RAI fee – intervenes the National Association of Partisans of Italy -. Try Dancing with the Stars today with the X-Mas t-shirt, known for its Nazi collaboration and ferocity against the partisans. A disgrace that offends the victims of Nazi crime and resistance, the root of the Republic ». The conclusion is the same as that of Laganà: “We are waiting for serious action”.
Montesano tries to set a patch. But that’s worse than the hole. He clarifies the dispute with one: “Nonsense, let’s leave the exploitation to others” and posts a photo of him with a PSI card from 1976. In the late afternoon an apology: “I’m deeply sorry and I’m bitter, what has happened . I am a collector of shirts, I have Mao’s from the USSR, but I do not agree with this thought. I had no intention of spreading political messages or an apology for fascism, from which I am deeply removed. I believe in the values of the Constitution. It was naive. I have nothing to do with Nazi-fascism and totalitarianism and I deeply despise them ». Words that are not enough to avoid the public broadcaster’s decision to “interrupt Montesano’s participation in the broadcast on Saturday night”, and to which Lucarelli adds the charge: “Not naive, the jersey was a voluntary act. Montesano made a conscious decision to show up with this shirt in a rehearsal room full of cameras ».
“What happened is unacceptable – Rai intervenes -. It remains unacceptable for a competitor of a public television program to wear a t-shirt with a motto and a symbol commemorating one of the darkest pages of our history. We apologize us to all viewers and especially to those who personally paid and suffered because of the Nazi fascism to which this symbolism refers. Late in the evening the actor’s return: the affair goes to the lawyers. The “T-shirt of discord – says Montesano’s entourage – was seen by Rai representatives both during the rehearsals of his artistic performance and during the recording of the same and editing without objection”.
November 14, 2022 (Change November 14, 2022 | 09:44)
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED