The actress and ex-wife of Silvio Berlusconi was a guest for the first time ever on a television program in the dinner talk “A cena da Maria Latella”, which was broadcast this evening on the All News channel. Veronica Lario talked about herself, from her new interest in artificial intelligence to her past with the founder of Forza Italia: “I have no reason to be blackmailed, I carry no secrets.”
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Veronica Lario is the special guest of the third episode of “A cena da Maria Latella”, the dinner talk on Sky TG24. For the first time, the actress and ex-wife of Silvio Berlusconi is taking part in a television program and it is also the first public appearance since the beginning of the separation from the former prime minister and founder of Mediaset in 2009. The consequence is artificial intelligence and its possible effects dedicated to the present and future from education to work: a topic close to Lario's heart, who recently invested in a small start-up.
It's a conversation I've wanted to have for a long time, and then to have it on TV where you've never set foot before is truly unique. What have you done in these 16 years since you separated from Silvio Berlusconi in 2009?
“In the beginning I devoted myself to a great passion, namely horses. It was a passion I always had and never thought about cultivating. Suddenly after this breakup I decided to start riding for various reasons. I started at 55: when everyone stopped, I started. I took advantage of hippotherapy: a very beautiful relationship that gave me peace and a lot of calm and that helped me a lot during those years that for me were difficult, painful moments when it was better to be in yourself to withdraw than to open up.
And in these moments you also did a lot for your grandmother. You also started getting involved with horses because your older nephews Alessandro and Edoardo started doing it.
“That's exactly how it is. I started because I thought I would follow my grandchildren. In reality, I was left alone from the whole family to ride horses.”
We won't talk about what your life was like with Silvio Berlusconi. I know this is still a very painful part for you. But tell us 3 special moments of these 16 years when we didn't see you.
“Three moments are difficult to describe. There were a whole series of moments when there was hope for a balanced reunion with my family and other moments when I lost those hopes a little. I was very close to my children, My children were very close to me, it was all a series of family events. The moments were all wonderful, especially because my family was very close to me and my children. The worst thing was that I couldn’t attend their graduation ceremonies because there were too many of us and I wanted to take a step back.”
In iconography, Veronica Lario, née Miriam Bartolini, was a very traditional woman. But from another perspective, you have always created your own spaces of independence: when there was the war in Iraq, you made a decision that went against the trend. The government represented by Berlusconi supported this war, and in a long interview you appealed to what you called the “awakening of conscience.” In this sense, following Giorgia Meloni, would you describe yourself as a “non-blackmailable” woman?
“I have no reason to be blackmailed because I don't carry any secrets. I have no secrets from Berlusconi's business or his life. That’s why I can’t be blackmailed and can say what I think regardless of my past.”
After the breakup, there were times when you were portrayed as a super billionaire because you received a fine of hundreds of millions. But how did this story develop then?
“In reality, it was none of that: there was a sentence that denied me any rights, a sentence that I respected, and today I am a normal person, an entrepreneur. Let's say when this very complex moment was over, I asked myself how to start anew, for my life and for personal decisions. At a certain moment I thought there was nothing left for me, in my opinion I had been denied a right. I thought, “Maybe the force has prevailed,” but then I realized it wasn’t impossible and I tried it.
And now, when you attend these debates about artificial intelligence or look into this little gaming start-up, what do your relatives tell you?
“They are surprised, but that doesn't stop me from talking to them, on the contrary. It is a reason for discussion. Barbara, of all people, is most interested in the topic.”
You have had many lives. Young theater actress in Bologna, partner of a man who is becoming increasingly famous. You traveled to Russia under Yeltsin, the only international trip you made. But then you welcomed Bill Clinton and Hillary here in Rome. We never really understood why the role of First Lady was relatively unpopular for you.
“That's not true. The people who walked through Silvio Berlusconi's living rooms have always been people of great caliber: entrepreneurs, government men, statesmen, and I have to say that I have always been somehow fascinated by them. But even more than that.” Then I never thought about finding my own space within these dynamics that didn’t belong to me. I was there because I respected a role and tried to fill it as best as I could. Which for me also meant taking a step back.
At this moment, however, women are called upon to take a step forward. What do you think about the fact that there are so many women in Italy at the moment, even the new president of the Sardinia region is a woman?
“And they say she's doing very well, so we wish her well.”
A long life journey, from actress to first lady, to separated and criticized woman and now to this new job.
“I was the 'ungrateful showgirl' and went straight to the Milan court, which denied me all my rights. It was a ten-year leap in which I felt a little repressed. When I read bad things about myself, I suffered.” . It is difficult to fight against power and against the press, especially when the press is linked to power. The only thing I could do was take a step back, that’s what I learned from the beginning.”
Looking back, what wouldn't you do again?
“I have an ideal window and when I open it in the morning I can see the future. Then I have a window behind me, but I don't open it often. So I'm always ready to look at the window that shows me the future.”
They have 10 grandchildren of different ages. Speaking of artificial intelligence, we talked about the future: Aren't you worried about the future of your grandchildren? In this world full of conflicts, tensions and wars.
“Wars scare me. I open and close a parenthesis: Wars scare me because I was born ten years after the end of the last world war. I have always heard many stories, many stories of my family who lived near Marzabotto, some of them I experienced from my family in a very dramatic way. So the war is a separate discussion. I think young people have a future as it should be, and in that future there may also be new dimensions like the metaverse, so I think very positively.”
WATCH THE FULL EPISODE FROM MARCH 1 HERE
Guest in the third episode of “Dinner at Maria Latella’s”: Veronica Lario took part in the dinner talk Sky TG24 Airing tomorrow, Friday March 1st at 9pm on the All News Channel. The guests are at the table Emmanuela Girardi, AI expert, Spartacus AlbertarelliGame designer and actor Edoardo Ferrario focused on the topic of artificial intelligence and Veronica Lario, who talked about her new entrepreneurial endeavor, the small startup she recently invested in
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At the end of the conversation with the guests, the former Mrs. Berlusconi gave a one-on-one interview with Maria Latella in which she spoke about family relationships and the long years after the divorce in which she distanced herself from the public scene. This is his first appearance on a television show and his first public appearance since 2009
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“These years were marked by moments when there was a possibility of reuniting with my family and other moments when I lost those hopes. I was very close to my children, it was all a series of family events. The moments were all beautiful because my family and my children were very close. The worst thing was that we couldn’t attend their graduation ceremonies because there were too many of us,” he said Veronica LarioGuest a “Dinner at Maria Latella’s” At Sky TG24
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