Sgarbi sentenced for homophobic insults to Rocco Casalino on TV. The art critic, who defined Giuseppe Conte's then spokesman as a "useless queer" during a debate on Stasera Italia, on Rete 4, was convicted of defamation three and a half years later.
He has to pay a fine of one thousand euros, in addition to the reimbursement of around 3 thousand euros in court costs. Sgarbi had invoked parliamentary immunity, an attempt that was not enough to avoid conviction.
And it does not end here, the compensation still to be quantified for the civil office, with the lawyers of Casalino who have asked for 50 thousand euros.
The episode dates back to January 2020: Sgarbi, in the course of an unbridled invective against various M5 exponents, also took it out on Casalino. First he called him "inadequate" for the role he plays, then he concluded the monologue with the sentence that was the subject of the trial. "Useless queer", in fact.
(Unioneonline/L)