Italy's Meloni leaves partner after sexist comments scandal

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on Friday that she had split from her partner and the father of her young daughter after nearly a decade together. The two were not married.

"My relationship with Andrea Giambruno, which lasted almost 10 years, ends here," Meloni wrote on social media.

"Our paths have diverged for some time, and the time has come to acknowledge it," she added.

The announcement came a day after sexist comments made by Giambruno were exposed on prime-time television for a second time this week, reports DW.

Partner's sexist comments exposed
Giambruno, a television presenter, was caught making overtly sexist and lewd comments to female colleagues off-air on the sidelines of his talk show "Diario del giorno" (Daily Diary).

The backstage clips and audio were aired by satirical news program "Striscia la notizia" (The News Slither) across two nights of programming on Tuesday and Thursday.

"How do you do, darling? Do you know that (name redacted) and I are having an affair? All of (television company) Mediaset knows it, and now you do too," he is heard telling a woman who is also off camera.

"But we're looking for a third person, as we do threesomes. Foursomes too.

Would you like to be part of our working group?"

In another clip, Giambruno appears to touch his groin.

"Striscia la notizia" is broadcast during prime time by Mediaset, a mass media company owned by the late Silvio Berlusconi, whose Forza Italia party is a junior partner in Meloni's government.

Meloni defends friendship with Giambruno

Meloni, whose right-wing government has repeatedly defended the traditional family unit, did not mention the sexist comment scandal surrounding Giambruno in her remarks.

However, she did blast "all those who hoped to weaken me by hitting me at home."

She also said she would continue to defend her friendship with Giambruno.

"And I will defend, at all costs, a 7-year-old girl who loves her mother and loves her father, as I was unable to love mine," said Meloni, who herself was raised by a single mother.