Italian PM Giorgia Meloni faces a new blow after her culture minister, a close ally, was forced to admit an affair with a social media influencer he tried to hire as a ministry consultant.
In an interview with Italy’s RAI state broadcaster Wednesday night, Gennaro Sangiuliano, a Meloni loyalist, said he had offered his resignation to the prime minister, but she refused to accept it.
The move came in response to a scandal that broke last week when Maria Rosaria Boccia, a social media influencer, announced on Instagram that she had a new role as an adviser for major events to the culture ministry — a claim the ministry itself denied. Boccia then published documents and pictures of herself on business trips with Sangiuliano, including visits she said were reconnaissance for the upcoming G7 ministerial meeting on culture in Positano, Italy.
