Placebo’s Brian Molko charged with defamation for calling Italian Prime Minister a “fascist” and a “racist”
In August 2023, Placebo’s Brian Molko was sued by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after he denounced her as a “piece of shit, fascist, racist” during a performance at Sonic Park in Turin. Now, the guitarist has been formally charged with defamation for the comments and is facing a hefty fine from authorities.
Authorities first began the investigation into Molko’s comments immediately after the band’s performance, when clips of the singer’s rant against Meloni were shared online by fans. Italian criminal law dictates that a person can be fined up to €5,000 (£4150) for publicly defaming the Republic, including the prime minister.
After a lengthy investigation, the Placebo musician has been charged with “contempt of the institutions,” according to the Italian newspaper La Stampa. As a result, Molko is expected to face an extensive fine. It is also possible that he will be summoned to a court in Italy to be put on trial for his comments.
His original statement that Meloni and her government are “fascist” and “racist” stems from the far-right politics of the politician and her Brothers of Italy political party. The party and its leader have been routinely criticised in recent years for their increasingly right-wing standpoint on a multitude of issues.
Elected into power in 2022 under the guise of “Christian family values” and staunch anti-immigration rhetoric, the party have systematically stripped rights away from the LGBTQ+ community and has devoted great effort to vilifying migrants and refugees.
The current regime in Italy is arguably the most right-wing the nation has seen since Benito Mussolini’s dictatorship, which lasted from 1925 to 1943. In fact, Mussolini’s granddaughter, Rachele Mussolini, left Meloni’s political party in 2024, claiming that the Brothers of Italy party had become too right-wing.
Meloni, in contrast, has consistently attempted to portray the Brothers of Italy as a mainstream conservative party rather than the far-right neo-fascist organisation that Molko suggested it is.
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