The Other Side of Midnight

Posted March 29th, 2023

In the past few weeks, I have witnessed with dismay a media frenzy and lynching carried out by those who use public TV for personal vendettas.

And what was I ever going to do that was so terrible that I deserved this treatment?

The facts.

Sentence 7746/2022 of the Court of Rome established that I published the photo of my late best friend, hugging me, "without the written consent of the heirs."
This is true, and I confess that I did not know, as I believe the majority of ordinary citizens, that in order to publish a person's photo, written authorization was required from him or, since she has sadly passed away, that of her heirs.

The sentence, while deeming "the alleged violation of the rights to honor and reputation of both the woman represented in the photo and her relatives, now plaintiffs, to be completely groundless" and while having "rejected the request for publication of the sentence in one or several newspapers, radio and internet sites”, sentenced me, for the mere formal fact of publishing the photo without written authorization, to pay damages.

In this regard, in the absence of proof of actual damage, the Court decided to apply an equitable criterion by ordering me "to pay Euro 2,000 as compensation for the damage suffered" in favor of each of the plaintiffs, plus litigation costs.

I appreciated that the two children never activated the bailiff, and therefore, to put an end to the matter, I spontaneously paid what was due to them.

That's all? No.

With the second sentence, n. 4773/2022, the Court of Rome deemed the video on Twitter "clearly incontinent," which shows "Parisi 'joking' about arguing with herself ... to then conclude with the showgirl 'mimicking' Pinocchio by placing her middle finger on the own nose” with the hashtags #pinocchio and #lie and “the mentions of the actor as well as of Cuccarini”.

The Court recognized that the plaintiff had not proved the extent of the damage and therefore the Judge liquidated the sum of Euro 10,000 on an equitable basis (which is, however, enormously lower than that requested by my counterpart).
Also, in this case, the Court "rejected the request for publication of the sentence in one or more newspapers, radio stations, and websites."

Not sharing some passages of the sentence with my lawyer, I have filed an appeal that is in progress. We will see.

Pursuant to these two sentences, on 9 March 2023, the bailiff presented herself to my dressing room at the Lumina Studios, in Rome, Via Macherio n. 228/230, the bailiff was accompanied by the counterparty's lawyer.

No law enforcement representative was present in the studios, let alone in my dressing room, and no representative ever appeared in my presence.

After the bailiff explained the reasons for her visit, I contacted my lawyer, who was, however, at the hearing. Once I had confirmation from my lawyer of the accuracy of the sums requested and the legitimacy of the procedure, I immediately made myself available to pay the amount requested.

After being sure of the payment, the bailiff transcribes "the attorney .... he asks me to postpone the execution as an agreement has been reached between the parties. "

So why so much clamor for an innocent sin of naivety used as a pretext for a childish personal spite?

And above all, why so much fury from the mainstream towards me?

I've often wondered this these days.

Steps that I took on the toes of those who use the media to their liking, steps that the degree of "zerbinaggio" of a large part of the mainstream and bloggers in Italy have reached intolerable levels, steps that are foreign enough to bring out in someone the pleasure of the "Italians do it better", you also pass that I've never had political sponsors on either side and that I've never climbed into any winner's bandwagon.

But the real reason, in my opinion, must be sought elsewhere.

The real reason lies in the fact that some of my battles in recent years are indigestible to a certain part of the mainstream, that presents you with the bill as soon as it can.

What emerges in my eyes is the ever greater distance between the real country and the legal country of those who hold power and those who are servants and megaphones of that power.

Apart from the serial haters, who have transformed social media into a place of gratuitous aggression and a social struggle that they engage in while sitting comfortably in their living rooms, because they are unable to do it in the squares, I continue to receive, in private and in public, a great deal solidarity and many certificates of esteem.

And for that, I am immensely grateful.

 

HPA