“THEthe dominant feeling? The pain, combined with dismay and anger». A few days after his goodbye to Afternoon Five, Barbara D’Urso thus describes the end of conducting the afternoon broadcast of Canale 5. It will come in its place Myrta Merlin. And in an interview with the newspaper Republic, D’Urso wanted to tell her truth, explaining how the facts that led her to clash with Mediaset, the company in which he has worked for the last 15 years.
Barbara D’Urso: «I haven’t agreed anything»
On July 1, an official note arrives from Mediaset on the absence of Barbara D’Urso in the next season of Afternoon Five. «Canale 5 and Barbara d’Urso have agreed that from next season the artist will no longer conduct Afternoon Five» reports the company press release. «I didn’t agree to anything» points out the presenter on the pages of Repubblica. Emphasizing that the decision taken against her is «a sentence, left at home in a few days without notice».
What happened
After having reaffirmed his passion for work and loyalty to the company, despite having “endured a lot, I put my head under the water”, the well-known TV face explains that “The thing that hurts me the most is that they didn’t allow me to greet my audience.”. And he tells what happened in the days before the release of the Mediaset press release.
Photo Gubert/Rasero/LaPresse
At the end of March, during the putata of Sunday In, Mara Venier broadcasts a video message from Barbara D’Urso. «I began to think that perhaps Mediaset didn’t like me anymore” explains. And his agent, Lucio Presta, asks the company «a strong signal of belonging», putting forward the hypothesis of a biennial renewal of D’Urso’s contract, expiring at the end of the year, and the possibility of a prime time broadcast on Canale 5. Mediaset, on the other hand, is evaluating the option of terminating the contract.
Barbara D’Urso: “They hurt me deeply”
«On June 28 I learn that after 15 years I will be gone» explains the presenter a Republic. And he points the finger at «unacceptable ways. They hurt me deeply: make this decision without telling me anything and without giving me the opportunity to say goodbye to my viewers. And the press release: I didn’t agree on anything, they left me at home in a few days,” he points out.
Pier Silvio Berlusconi: “It’s not a punishment”
On the subject it is Pier Silvio Berlusconi also spoke, CEO of Mediaset. Which, on the occasion of presentation of schedules of the next television season, explained the reason that led to the replacement of D’Urso with Myrta Merlino.
The goal is bring the afternoon slot of Canale 5 towards a more journalistic path. A simple editorial choice, then. «It’s not a punishment» Berlusconi pointed out. «The discontinuity after so many years will be good for her too».
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