A dark point on the screen in place of the two faces of the bride and groom.
This is the scene that Rai viewers were able to witness on the channel's website in a video posted online this Tuesday, February 13, ahead of the broadcast of the series in the coming days.
While many viewers were delighted with the return of actress Sabrina Ferilli, very popular in the country, in a new series called “Gloria”, they were surprised to see the kiss between two men hidden in an extract from the TV film broadcast in line, while the main character Gloria had just celebrated their civil union, legal in Italy since 2016.
Questa #Rai sta davvero una rawta piega, dopo il caso del comunicato di #DomenicaIn ora si scopre la censorura con un bollino nero dei a bacio gay on the backstage of #Gloria... pic.twitter.com/cjQ99tXX2U
— Majin79 ♋ (@Majin79) February 14, 2024
No censorship, but a hat
On social networks, several Internet users did not hesitate to speak of “censorship” of public television and to interpret this as a measure aimed at not offending the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni.
In the fall, he supported an amendment brought by the right which was to provide for the obligation for public television to promote “the traditional family”.
According to Rai, the explanation is quite different: “The allegedly censored kiss is a scene in which the main actress celebrates the marriage of two actors, one of whom wears a uniform and a hat.
There is no censorship, just staging,” the group defends in a press release.
Despite Rai's justifications, there was still a lot of criticism for not showing this kiss to the general public.
A “providential” accessory ironically highlights the daily Il Corriere della Sera, which notes that a “traditional” kiss between a man and a woman shown a few moments before did not suffer the same fate.
The broadcast of the series is due to start on Monday February 19, at 9:30 p.m., on Rai Uno, Italy's leading channel.
Rai already the target of criticism during the Sanremo festival
This controversy appears while Italy is already torn apart over the positions taken by several artists during the Sanremo festival, which took place from February 6 to 10.
During their performance, they called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
At the end of his performance in the final, singer Ghali asked to “end the genocide”.
Ghali in Rai probably no I will put more foot finché avrà luogo questa censura ma il tuo sacrificio non sarà mai dimenticato, volevi usare la tua voce per fare rumore et hai fatto un casino assordante #DomenicaInpic.twitter.com/uPxEyQKO46
— L. 🌘 (@dreaminhogvarts) February 11, 2024
He did not explicitly mention any conflict, but that was all it took for Italy to be torn apart once again over the issue of content broadcast on Rai.
The day after the festival, the presenter of the “Domenica In” program, Mara Venier, had to read a press release from the general administrator of Rai, who dissociated himself from Ghali's comments.
A few minutes later, Dargen d'Amico, another Italian singer, spoke on the show about immigration, echoing his song "Onda Alta" which evokes crossings of the Mediterranean.
“The economic impact of immigration is positive: what immigrants put into our coffers to pay our pensions represents more than what we spend to welcome them.
These are the statistics,” he insisted.
"
What immigrants immigrated to pay for the pension was more than what I spent for l'accoglienza
" this is the moment" #domenicain #Sanremo2024 pic.twitter.com/MXZMOBWnhY
— Il Grande Flagello (@grande_flagello) February 11, 2024
Here again, Mara Venier appeared uncomfortable.
“You’re embarrassing me,” she replies, before exfiltrating him on the grounds that “we have to continue” with the performances of the other artists.
One more element which confronts Rai with its lack of independence vis-à-vis the government in office.