Italian journalist ordered to pay €5,000 damages over Giorgia Meloni height jibe

Giulia Cortese convicted of defamation over two tweets that judge in Milan said amounted to ‘body shaming’

An Italian court has ordered a journalist to pay €5,000 in damages to the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, for mocking her height over social media in what was defined as “body shaming”.

Giulia Cortese, a journalist based in Milan, was also given a suspended fine of €1,200 over the jibe, which dated back to October 2021, a year before Meloni’s far-right coalition government came to power.