Brian Molko under investigation for comments about Italian PM

Brian Molko is under investigation in Turin after he criticized Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a performance at the Sonic Park Festival in Stupinigi. According to Variety, the Placebo boss called her “racist” and “fascist,” but also insulted her as a “bitch.”

Now he faces fines of up to $5,600 for “public defamation of the republic,” which includes insults against the government, parliament and the military. Placebo’s show in Sássari (Sardinia) on August 1st is also at risk.

Councilor Marilino Andria, meanwhile, asked Sássari’s Mayor Nanni Campus what he would do to prevent a repeat of Molko’s tirades, as well as how he plans “[die Möglichkeit] to censor such an event”.

Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia, is classified as “post-fascist”. She was elected prime minister in September 2022 after a campaign that featured strong anti-immigration and anti-LGBTQ agendas. Of all governments since the end of World War II, hers is considered to be the furthest to the right politically.