#Scandalous Life

[xtruss]

Obituary: The Scandalous Life and Career of Silvio Berlusconi

The Former Italian Leader Loved Topless Women and Vladimir Putin but Hated Being Compared to Donald Trump.

— June 12, 2023 | By Barbie Latza Nadeau | Foreign Policy

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi arrives for a news conference at the Chigi Palace in Rome on May 26, 2010. Alberto Pizzou/AFP Via Getty Images

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s longest-reigning post-World War II leader, wanted nothing more than for people to love him. Whether he was on the global stage or the stage of the cruise ship where he first worked as a singer, the former Italian prime minister, who died Monday at 86, was always working the crowd in a desperate search for approval.

Though Berlusconi officially left politics in a black limousine in November 2011—delivering his resignation to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in Rome’s Quirinale Palace—he remained highly influential as a political powerbroker until his death.

It was a confidence vote over tax fraud allegations that forced his departure from office. After resigning, the former statesman sat slumped in the back of his dark limo as his driver slalomed through unfriendly crowds that lined the route to his tony villa, the Piazza Venezia. Spectators popped champagne corks in his direction, threw coins, and spat at his car yelling profanities and calling him a mafioso and a thief. A small ensemble played the “Hallelujah” chorus from George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.” It was a spectacle only Italians could pull off with such flair.

Berlusconi mingles with supporters during a rally for his Forza Italia party in Rome on Feb. 6, 1994. Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Another government collapse meant little in Italy, but there was something spectacular about Berlusconi’s fall from grace. The “Teflon Don,” as he had been known before finally being ousted, was tarnished by a sex scandal in 2010 involving then-17-year-old dancer Karima El Mahroug, whose stage name was “Ruby Rubacuori” (Ruby Heartbreaker). Berlusconi had sprung her from a Milan police station after she called one of his assistants, who was aware that Ruby knew a lot more than most young women in Berlusconi’s lewd circle. The Ruby scandal started with Berlusconi’s office calling the Milan police station to say the young woman in question was Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak’s granddaughter, which she was not. What she was, though, was a regular fixture in the “Bunga Bunga” parties the prime minister, also known as “Il Cavaliere” (The Knight), held in the basement of his Villa Arcore near Milan.

Women who participated in the soirees during nights of lap dancing for Berlusconi cronies—including strippers costumed as nuns, popes, and former U.S. President Barack Obama—told the courts during many investigations into Berlusconi that they were handed envelopes with cash and little gold necklaces with butterflies on them as payment at the end of each party.

By this time, Berlusconi had already been accused of what in most countries would be full-blown sex scandals but which are in Italy, for reasons not entirely clear, often empowering. Ruby was somehow different, however, not least because she was under the age of 18. The age of consent in Italy is 16, but the age of legal prostitution is 18, and she was—in the eyes of the law—prostituting herself to Berlusconi and his cronies. His defense was that she misled him about her age.

Berlusconi apparently learned the name “Bunga Bunga” from the late Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi, who often pitched his Bedouin tents in some of Rome’s most lavish gardens on state visits and who was himself accused of abducting underage girls and holding them captive as sex slaves. The two leaders had an unusually close relationship, which led to Berlusconi signing a treaty in 2008 that funneled $5 billion to the North African nation to compensate for Italy’s colonization. In return, Qaddafi stopped the flow of African migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya, while warning he could again “turn on the spigot and turn Europe black.” Berlusconi’s face even graced Libyan passports in the years before Qaddafi was killed during Libya’s civil war.

Then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Berlusconi confer during a news conference at Villa Gernetto in Lesmo, Italy, on April 26, 2010. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

Berlusconi’s legacy ebbed and flowed as those he chose to embrace rose or fell into disgrace. He was considered U.S. President George W. Bush’s “second-best European friend” and stood up for U.S. President Bill Clinton when he was found to have had a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. But it was his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin that would prove his most difficult and most damaging.

The two men made headlines when an escort wrote in her 2008 tell-all book that she had sex with Berlusconi in his Rome residence on a four-poster bed he referred to as “Putin’s bed.” The white bed, which she described as “having curtains at the top,” was almost certainly a wink-wink gift from one self-considered stud to another. In exchange, Berlusconi gave Putin a comforter cover featuring a real photo of the two men shaking hands and smiling ear-to-ear.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, it took Berlusconi more than a month to condemn the friend with whom he often shared his holiday homes in Sardinia, spawning an enclave for Russian oligarchs. Shortly after the war began, he told reporters that he thought “Europe must make a peace proposal, trying to get the Ukrainians to accept Putin’s demands.” He finally admitted his old friend Vlad was wrong, saying he was “disappointed and saddened” by his actions.

Not unlike former U.S. President Donald Trump—another “Teflon Don” to whom Berlusconi hated being compared—Berlusconi was the first Italian prime minister to lead the country without ever having served as an elected official. Though the two men shared similar styles, Berlusconi was a highly educated man whose grasp on geopolitics was impressive.

During an interview that former Newsweek foreign editor Christopher Dickey and I did with Berlusconi at his palatial Roman abode, he was flanked by aides and assistants he could have called on to answer any question. Instead, he spoke knowledgeably about Middle Eastern politics, named leaders from far-flung countries, provided insights on U.S. political debates, and gave us a read on nearly every country in Europe—how their leaders were faring and what the biggest geopolitical issues were at the time—all while his aides were left to chew idly on their croissants.

A young Berlusconi with his children (from left) Barbara, Luigi, and Eleonora in his villa near Milan circa 1994. Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Berlusconi was born to a bank employee and a housewife in 1936. He would spend years taking his mother Rosa with him to meet world leaders, and she was often at his side at state dinners. She died in 2008. His sister Maria Francesca Antonietta died a year after their mother, and his brother and sometimes business partner Paolo is often in the sights of financial police.

One of his first jobs was as a vacuum salesman, and he moonlighted as a cruise ship singer throughout the 1960s. Later in life, between political successes, he wrote songs and published albums of Neapolitan ballads that are still widely played across Italy.

He graduated with honors from law school in 1961 and married his first wife, Carla Elvira Dall’Oglio, in 1965. Though they would divorce, she is perhaps the only woman who never told the tabloids anything about their relationship. She was maintained financially throughout her life, given a monthly alimony payment that has never been made public but which was apparently enough to keep her from succumbing to the barrage of media requests asking her to talk about her ex. The children he had with her, Marina and Pier Silvio, played crucial roles in his extensive media and real estate investments.

In the 1980s, Berlusconi married his second wife, Veronica Lario, with whom he fell in love (by his own account, during his interview with me and Dickey) when she performed topless at a dance in Milan. He went on to have three children with her (Barbara in 1984, Eleonora in 1986, and Luigi in 1988). They divorced amid spectacular scandal in 2009, when she announced in an op-ed for a left-leaning newspaper that she was leaving him because he “consorts with minors.” He was ordered to pay her an annual alimony of $48 million to maintain the lifestyle he had created for her. By then, Berlusconi was a billionaire many times over.

Berlusconi at the beach in Hammamet, Tunisia, in August 1984. Umberto Cicconi/Getty Images

Berlusconi started his real estate business with a housing development for young professionals in Milan’s smartest suburb, aiming to create a posh enclave for a lifestyle-driven clientele. The money for his initial investment remained of questionable origin until his death, with many prosecutors unsuccessfully trying to prove it was driven by the mafia.

He went on to build a media empire off his real estate profits and was the first to introduce American-style sitcoms to Italian audiences through his first television networks, including Telemilano, which he launched in 1974, and Canale 5, which he started in 1980. He created what is now Italy’s largest commercial broadcaster, Mediaset, importing American programs including “General Hospital” and “Dallas,” with which he was obsessed. But he also introduced rampant sexism with programs featuring scantily-clad women pandering to older men—the women rarely spoke beyond introducing commercial breaks or replying that they didn’t know the answer to a question to open up a segment—a style of TV that persists today and which is blamed in part for the country’s strong patriarchal grip on society.

He continued to invest substantial profits in real estate, publishing, commercial stores, and the AC Milan soccer club, which he runs under the umbrella group Fininvest. That group includes more than 150 businesses and has been the target of perhaps as many investigations, trials, and fines for creative bookkeeping.

Seizing on Italy’s obsession with sports, Berlusconi launched his own political party in 1994 called “Forza Italia” (Forward Italy), the cry Italian fans yell at the World Cup and national competitions. He went on to serve three times as prime minister: from May 1994 to January 1995, from June 2001 to May 2006, and from May 2008 to November 2011.

His tenure was peppered by tax fraud accusations, sex scandals, whispers of mafia involvement, and gaffes. He was convicted of bribery, tax evasion, and having sex with an underage call girl—convictions that mostly were overturned during Italy’s generous appellate process. At least twice, his eventual acquittals were the result of his own government changing the laws. In 2014, he served community service for a tax fraud conviction the previous year.

Berlusconi takes off his face mask to address the media as he leaves San Raffaele Hospital in Milan on Sept. 14, 2020, after being hospitalized for COVID-19. Piero Cruciatti/AFP Via Getty Images

Berlusconi frequently said he had done more for women than anyone else in Italy, including appointing a former topless Perilli calendar model as his minister of equal opportunity. But as much of the rest of the world moved to equalize salaries and combat blatant sexism, Italy remains demonstrably far behind most developed countries. Italy consistently scores low in the World Economic Forum’s annual gender report, with fewer women managers and decision makers than other European countries and extremely low paternity leave benefits, suggesting women are the main caretakers for children.

Berlusconi suffered several health issues, including heart problems that kept him in and out of the hospital—this often happened when he had a trial date for one of his many cases on appeal—and he suffered serious COVID-19 symptoms early in the pandemic. He also suffered multiple lacerations and a fractured nose when someone threw a souvenir statue of the Milan Duomo at him in 2009 as he signed autographs at a campaign rally. In April 2023, he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Yet he remained a powerful figure until the end, even winning a seat in the Italian Senate in 2022. But he will likely be remembered most for his gaffes and scandals, including when he famously called German Chancellor Angela Merkel “unfuckable” on a hot mic and publicly called Obama’s Black skin a “tan.”

Some of his adoring followers called for a state funeral long before he died. His foes blamed him for Italy’s ruinous economic state and hard-to-deny struggle with following rules. For many, it might be tempting to think of him as a pathetic joke, but he was far too wealthy and powerful for that.

Correction, June 12, 2023: A previous version of this article misstated Berlusconi’s comparative time in office.

— Barbie Latza Nadeau is an American Journalist who has lived in Rome, Italy, since 1996. She is the author, most recently, of The Godmother: Murder, Vengeance, and the Bloody Struggle of Mafia Women.

[flwrkid14]

Bruce shares custody of Tim with Harley Quinn

Yeah, you read that right. Gotham’s broodiest billionaire vigilante and the queen of chaotic energy are co-parenting Tim Drake. And, somehow, that’s not even the weirdest thing that's happened to the bats this year.

Why? Two words: Joker Junior.

The details are locked down tighter than the Batcave, but here’s what everyone knows (or guesses): Joker broke Tim in ways none of them can fathom. He didn’t just try to kill him—he tried to make Tim like him. And while Tim clawed his way back from the brink, he didn’t do it alone. Harley was there.

She was part of the nightmare. And then, unexpectedly, she was part of the healing. She stepped in, helped Tim survive when Joker was doing his worst. When it was all over, when Joker was (temporarily) gone, she didn’t vanish into Gotham’s chaos. She stayed.

And somehow, somewhere along the way, Tim started calling her “Mom.”

And Bruce didn’t stop him.

Cue the Batfamily losing their collective minds.

Dick is pacing the Batcave, gesturing wildly. “Bruce, this is Harley Quinn we’re talking about! You don’t just co-parent with a rogue! There are laws against this! Or, like, there should be!”

Jason is sitting on the Batmobile, arms crossed, voice dripping with disbelief. “She’s literally a former rogue. She tried to kill you! Like, more than once. This is insane, even for you.”

Steph is perched on the edge of a desk, trying (and failing) not to laugh. “Okay, but, like, can you blame Tim? Harley does make amazing pancakes. Better than Alfred’s, honestly—”

A scandalized gasp echoes from the other side of the room.

Cass just watches quietly, her head tilted, but there’s a small, knowing smile on her face. She gets it. She’s seen the way Tim softens around Harley, how he relaxes in a way he doesn’t around anyone else.

Damian glares at Bruce like he’s lost his last shred of common sense. “Father, you have truly surpassed yourself. Allowing that woman into the sanctity of our home—”

Duke raises a hand cautiously. “Okay, but can we at least talk about how Tim basically has diplomatic immunity now? No rogue in Gotham is gonna mess with him. He’s Harley’s kid!”

And it’s true. Between Harley’s reputation and Poison Ivy stepping in as Tim’s unofficial stepmom (because of course she and Harley got back together), the rogues have adopted a weird kind of reverence for him. Tim’s no longer just a bat to them—he’s Harley’s kid.

Picture this: Tim’s out on patrol, and Riddler has the gall to interrupt with a riddle—only to end it with, “You’re sharper than I thought, kid. Guess Harley taught you well, huh?” before disappearing into the night.

Harley’s brand of parenting is chaotic but deeply personal. She knows Tim’s tells, the way his hands shake when he’s overwhelmed or the too-quiet moments when he’s retreating into himself. She’s the one who sits cross-legged on the floor with him, working on puzzles and cracking jokes until the tension lifts.

She carries extra band-aids in her purse because “Ya never know when a fight with some thug is gonna leave ya with a paper cut!” She also leaves sticky notes on his projects with scribbled messages like “You’re a genius, baby boy!” or “Don’t forget snacks!” They’re goofy, sure, but they make Tim smile when he needs it most. She keeps a stash of snacks in the Manor because Tim forgets to eat when he’s working. She shows up with pancakes at 3 a.m., douses everything in syrup, and calls him “baby boy” in that soft tone that makes Tim feel… safe.

Even Harley’s chaos has an odd kind of comfort to it. She’ll burst into the Manor unannounced, dragging Tim into impromptu “self-care parties” with face masks, bad rom-coms, and every flavor of ice cream imaginable. Somehow, it works.

Ivy, on the other hand, balances Harley’s energy with her own structured nurturing. She insists on “proper nutrition” and occasionally sends Tim home with meal prep containers filled with organic, eco-friendly food labeled things like “Stress-Busting Smoothie” or “Brain-Boosting Soup.” If Bruce raises an eyebrow at it, Ivy simply reminds him that “The human body can only fight crime properly with the right fuel, Bats.”

One time, she cornered Bruce in the greenhouse, pointing an accusatory finger. “If you send Tim out on patrol without a proper meal or at least six hours of sleep, I swear, Bruce, your rose garden is compost.”

And while Harley is the queen of hugs and chaos, Ivy is the one who sits with Tim on the porch at night, talking softly about resilience and regrowth, using plant metaphors Tim pretends not to understand but secretly finds comforting. Once, after a particularly bad night, she gifted him a small cactus with a note: “Even when it feels like the world is trying to tear you apart, you’re stronger than you think. Also, low maintenance, like you.”

Bruce knows the family doesn’t fully understand. But as he watches Harley teaching Tim how to make lasagna one night, the two of them laughing as the kitchen turns into a war zone of flour and tomato sauce, he doesn’t regret it.

Sometimes family doesn’t look like you think it will. Sometimes it’s stitched together from the most unexpected pieces.

And sometimes, it’s an ex-rogue, a traumatized teen, and a brooding billionaire all trying to figure out how to keep the lasagna from burning.

Welcome to Gotham.

[matthewsgreybubbles]

What a great day to remind you that this scene exist. 🫣

[mellowwillowy]

Your boyfriend had always been charming with how easygoing he was toward everyone. That was what drew you to the younger man, he knew which buttons to press to impress you a tad too well.

Everyone envied you. You were just a nobody while your boyfriend was an everything. A rich sole heir from a prestigious family which you weren't aware of until it was two years into the relationship. He might be testing you or whatever but the result proved to be satisfying when he learned that you were someone far from the shallowness he had been seeing. You did not measure him by his competency and wealth, you measured him by his compatibility with you.

You were a fresh breath for him who had been living a suffocating life for 25 years, bound by decisions that were made by his family.

You were something he could finally obtain by his own hands, his own decision, and something he could finally be obsessed with. It wasn't a fleeting obsession like an attraction toward a trending band. It was far from it. It was an addiction, a drug injected into his vein. And you would never notice it until it was too late for you. Cillian was a man far from your ideal but he could mold himself just to be your boyfriend. He would play pretend to be a funny man who just went on his harmless whims and your dictations. He knew he hated his family's dictations on his life but you?

He was just playing along. You were far from the terror his family gave him for all these years alive. But he wouldn't let you know to protect that one fragile pride you could only rely on.

... He was starting to sound like your best friend...

For someone who had reached their late 20s, you never expected to date someone who had just reached their mid-20s. A charming, handsome man who loved to crack countless jokes just to see you smile. Romance didn't suit you. You had always thought you'd live until the 50s single while working endlessly for a hopeful retirement.

But everything changed the moment you dated him. You'd lead a domestic life together where the two of you would work together for a future you had carefully planned.

"I think you might graduate in 1998 so how about we get married after you get your doctorate?" Cillian asked you tenderly as he eyed your occupied ring finger, measuring your finger size while also disdainfully tugging on the silver ring your best friend gave you as a bridesmaid gift.

"That sounds just right to me, it might be too late for me already but it's a perfect age for you to marry me."

Cillian was five years younger than you and he would be 28 by the time you two got married. You didn't care about people's opinions. Their snickers did not determine your choice of life.

Cillian pulled your head to rest on his shoulder, his eyes closed while he ran his mouth about how much he loved you. About how much he couldn't wait for the future where the two of you were bound by the wedding vow and rings, as one.

"I'd never leave you. We are meant to be one." he mumbled as he intertwined your hand with his, "... I will find a way to have you close to me forever."

You cocked your eyebrow at his words but said nothing in response, shrugging it off as some melodramatic profession of love until it finally hit you that he meant it. Four years into the relationship, he decided to break it off because he was called back home to marry a woman of his family's choice. It was exactly one year before the two of you were supposed to marry each other and yet he selfishly ended it.

He was the one who professed his love the most yet he was also the one who ruined it. He ruined everything, your life plan and schedule all burned down just like how you burned the wedding invitation. He'd pay for the flight ticket from America to France and cover all the commodities because that was all he could do to see you again.

He could never pay you back for what he had done to make you suffer. The year wasted on college leave, the hospital and psychiatrist bill to mend your broken dream and mental and the life schedule you had planned before you even met him; he could never fix it back.

"Because the only thing you have is your stupid wealth and stupid power scandal with everyone around me, destroying bits of my life!"

The man dared to see you personally in your home country. It was 1999, a year after his marriage and a few months after you graduated. Everything had been a living hell ever since you two broke up. Your education journey went into a downfall along with your career dream as a perfumer and now he proudly destroyed your career as a professor as well.

All in exchange for you to become his secret lover and move to France together with him yet he worded it as though this was more of an opportunity for you to finally be a professor in one of France's prestigious universities.

"... I will find a way to have you close to me forever."

Cillian had always been a charming young man but all you saw now was the sight of a faceless monster who tore your future apart out of his idealism with love.

He knew he was no different than you. The two of you were a match made in hell and now you had to live in hell itself.

Reference: Episode 5.0 and 5.5 from Power Scandal

[horreurscopes]

i like my body when it is with your body.

[sforzesco]

I got. thoughts. about valens and voices in imperial roman history. but I also got a lot of thoughts about uhhhhhh choosing your brother for co ruling the Fratricide Foundation Story Empire. many thoughts about themistius' oration too

Brotherly Love, Themistius (trans. Peter Heather & David Moncur)

⭐ places I’m at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app / insta

[shesnake]

challengers (and, on some level iwtv) on the brain it really is so funny how so many people often will happily talk about polyamory as a solution to their little ships but when confronted with narratives that truly explore that it can't compute for them and they start picking teams of two.

[annabelle--cane]

say it with me everybody: personal health is completely immaterial to morality, including mental health. leading a mentally unhealthy lifestyle (or what you perceive as a mentally unhealthy lifestyle) does not a bad person make. no one has to socialize, exercise, have healthy coping mechanisms, or lead (what you perceive as) a fulfilling life with fulfilling hobbies in the same way that no one has to go to the doctor to get a broken bone reset. both of those types of management of personal health are likely to be beneficial to the individual, but they are in no way moral requirements or debts owed to society. they do not actually say anything about a person's principles, personality, or actions towards others. additionally, people know themselves and their own situations better than you do. maybe a person judges that the physical and financial toll of going to the doctor outweigh the benefit of getting their bone reset, maybe a person just does not have the capacity to develop healthy coping mechanisms at this point in their life, and yes, maybe a person feels like they are totally fulfilled by "media based" hobbies alone and would feel no difference in their life if they picked up a loom. just like. let people be sick without accusing them of being representative of the lazy, degenerated state of modern society.

[phoenixyfriend]

I only have twelve options or I'd have added more (like Yoda, and Fives, and Plo, and Quinlan)

Could do a tournament but this'll do for now

[ngatwa]

CLAIRE FOY IS TRULY THE QUEEN OF BIOPICS

Paola Gourley in Rosewater (2014) Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall (2015) Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown (2016-2023) Diana Cavendish in Breathe (2017) Janet Armstrong in First Man (2018) Emily Richardson-Wain in The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021) Margaret Campbell in A Very British Scandal (2021)

[alexjcrowley]

This Bond with this Q. Do you see the vision.

[the-reincarnated-princess]

[purplegemstone]

✨️ Bet you'd like to get your hands on me ✨️

[auguste-marmonts-only-fan]

I'm sick

I have so much schoolwork

Yet somehow I mustered up the strength to make a shitpost

[mellowwillowy]

Yan! Best friend who has been friends with you for 10 years and is still clingy af around you. She may be a mother of two now but she's still a high schooler in love with you. Love makes her feel young and you are the love of her life.

Yan! Best friend who knows you best. They say 'Mother knows best' but she'd beg to differ. Does your mother even know your clothing measurements? Does your mother even know what you like and dislike to eat? Does your mother even know who gave you that ring resting on your finger ring?

Yan! Best friend who has always planned the best for you. Education, career, and romantic life have all been arranged to only be the best for you. You only deserve the best and no less.

Yan! Best friend who is pleased to know you are dating the man of her choice, a man of prestige who is head over heels for you, someone willing to go over miles length just for you.

Although he wasn't willing to go against his family to marry you, he was still willing to find a way to shut his legal wife's complaints regarding the fact that he was hiding a secret lover.

Seonmi was in no position to criticize him as she wasn't someone who knew what to do with you as well. Someone who was for certain your best friend but she also couldn't pinpoint her feelings toward you. She viewed you as something endearing for her, like a kitten raised in a cage of wools but she also felt like she loved you more than that.

Your best friend had always been a strange girl. She would sometimes mumble about you being her life partner but she wasn't sure if it was close to 'spouse'. She was no longer bothered by it though, shrugging her endearment toward you as simple as love. As long as you were hers, her life would be colorful, free from dullness.

You, her life partner, roped into an affair with a prestigious man who could ensure you a comfortable life although shrouded in scandal; was the best outcome Seonmi could ever have.

Because although she didn't expect that man to really fall head over heels for you, she wasn't entirely against it at all. You were stuck in a relationship with a man she had approved of and planned in your life schedule. Rather than seeing you with another nameless person, she'd rather see you paired with someone's husband.

Yan! Best friend who knows best for you. Don't you trust her after being friends together for 10 years? 16 years? 36 years? 40 years...?

Yan! Best friend who chose to die in your hands in the end, marking the end of the 40-year friendship. The ring had lost its partner and she had lost her life.

Read Power Scandal on Webtoon

[marlynnofmany]

Me: *squinting at notes* "What was my endgame here? How did I plan to wrap up the plot threads?"

My Notes: "These good guys stop those bad guys, there's peace for everybody, and the dangerous stuff is thrown into the sun. Whee!"

Me: "That is remarkably vague, Past Me."