Beppe Grillo
Encyclopedia
Giuseppe Piero Grillo, better known as Beppe Grillo (born 21 July 1948), is an Italian
activist, blog
ger, comedian
, actor
and politician
, who also works in theatre
s and television
.
, Liguria
.
After receiving his degree as an accountant
, Grillo became a comedian
by chance, improvising a monologue
in an audition. Two weeks later he was discovered and launched by Italian TV presenter Pippo Baudo
. He subsequently participated in the variety show Secondo Voi for two years (1977–78). Later, in 1979, he participated in Luna Park by Enzo Trapani, and Fantastico.
In the 1980s his success rose further, thanks to shows like Te la do io l'America (1982, 4 episodes) and Te lo do io il Brasile (1984, six episodes). In these shows, he narrated his experiences of his visits to the United States
and Brazil
, with anecdote
s and witticisms about the culture, lifestyle and beauty of these places.
As a result, his popularity grew more and more, and he became the protagonist of another show developed especially for him, called Grillometro (Grillometer). In 1986, he was the star of prize-winning advertisements for a brand of yogurt.
Soon after this, his performances began to be characterized by an increasing level of political satire
, often expressed in such a direct way that he quickly offended a lot of Italian politicians. In 1987 during the Saturday night TV show Fantastico
7, he attacked the Italian Socialist Party
and its leader Bettino Craxi
, then Italy's Prime Minister
, on the occasion of his visit in the People's Republic of China
. Grillo said:
The joke hinted at the totalitarianism
of the PRC, but even more to the widespread corruption
for which the Italian Socialist Party was known. As a consequence, Grillo was effectively and silently banished from publicly owned television; yet, he was vindicated a few years later when the Italian Socialist Party had to be disbanded in a welter of corruption scandals known as Tangentopoli
, uncovered by the Mani pulite
investigation. Craxi himself died in Tunisia
, unable to return to Italy where he would have been jailed for several convictions.
Consequently, from the beginning of the 1990s his appearances on television became rare: according to many people, the reason for this is a silent ostracism by politicians offended by his revelations about their hidden financial activities, fraud
s and false claims. When one of his shows was finally allowed to be broadcast by RAI
, in 1993, it obtained a record share of 16 million viewers. He was later banned definitively from Italian television.
He currently performs in theatres in Italy and abroad, often with outstanding success. Grillo's themes include energy
usage, political
and corporate corruption, finance
, freedom of speech
, child labour, globalization
, and technology
. Recently Grillo started to encourage the use of Wikipedia
as the future of knowledge sharing, and generally he is a strong proponent of internet freedom.
This was followed by the second V-Day on 25 April 2008, in Turin
, S.Carlo square. This V-Day was dedicated to the Italian press and its government financial support; Grillo heavily criticized the Italian press for the lack of freedom; Umberto Veronesi
(about his support for incinerators); NATO bases in Italy, the politicians (Silvio Berlusconi
was recently re-elected) and Retequattro, still holding TV frequences already given to Europa 7
http://www.beppegrillo.tv/v-day-video/v2-day-torino-beppe-grillo/V2-Day-torino-beppe-grillo-video-integrale-5.htm.
On 1 September 2005, thanks to contributions from readers of his blog, Grillo bought a full page advertisement in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica
in which he called for the resignation of the Bank of Italy
's (then) governor Antonio Fazio
over the Antonveneta
banking scandal. In October 2005, Time
chose him as one of the "European Heroes 2005" for his constant battle against corruption and financial scandals.
On 22 November 2005 Grillo also bought a page in the International Herald Tribune
, again claiming that members of the Italian Parliament ought not to represent citizens if they have ever been convicted in a court of law, even in the first degree of the three available in the Italian system. His blog now contains a regularly updated list of members of the Italian Parliament who have been convicted in all three degrees, in what he calls "operation Clean Parliament". Grillo claimed, in 2007, that data suggested that even Scampia
, the most dangerous suburb of Naples
and one of the areas with the highest crime rate in Europe
, actually had a lower crime rate than the Italian parliament's membership.
On 26 July 2007 Grillo was permitted to speak to the members of the European Parliament
in Brussels
, where he drew attention to the dangerous, negative state of current Italian politics.
In August 2008, Grillo was the subject of a report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC-TV) international affairs program "Foreign Correspondent". Titled "The Clown Prince" the report profiled Grillo's life, political activism, V Day campaign, and use of the internet as a political tool.
In 2010, he started a political movement called "Movimento 5 stelle" ("Movement five stars"), without the desire to be a leader and to be elected, but only to join, by the Internet, people who believe in ideals like honesty and direct democracy, and saying that politicians are only subordinates of the people and that they should work for the country only for a short time and only if they are not condemned for crimes, and thinking about the problems of their country without any other interest. The movement will be truly a party chance only from the next political round, when they will purpose their name not only in some regions but also in the political elections. The five stars represent the five basic points of the shared program: Water, Environment, Transport, Connectivity, Growth.
, the blog is ranked among the 10 most visited blog
s in the world. In 2008, The Guardian
ranked Grillo's blog among the world's most powerful blogs.
Grillo often receives letters of appreciation and support from prominent figures, such as Antonio Di Pietro
(former Italian Minister of Infrastructures), Fausto Bertinotti
(former President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies), Renzo Piano
, and even Nobel Prize Winners
(like Dario Fo
, Joseph E. Stiglitz
, Dalai Lama
, Muhammad Yunus
).
During his shows Grillo never hesitates to name firms and personalities he considers corrupt, always supporting his views with data and documents . For this reason he has been sued several times for libel by many people and organizations which he had exposed, such as Telecom Italia
.
When Italian judges were investigating the Parmalat scandal, which was then the world's largest corporate bankruptcy
scandal ever, Grillo was called to testify as he anticipated the imminent collapse of the dairy conglomerate in one of his shows. When he was asked by judges how he has been able to discover that, he simply said that Parmalat
's financial holes were so evident that anybody who had enough ability to see them would see them, since the corporate accounting was easily accessible.
sports car
, both being in contradiction with his well known ecologist stance. In his blog he admits that he did, in fact, acquire both but has since sold them.
Grillo is also criticized for taking advantage of the Condono Tombale, a fiscal amnesty
granted by the first Berlusconi government in 2001, which Grillo publicly opposed. Grillo commented on this issue during the V-Day demonstration. He said that he had personally benefitted by only €500.
Grillo has proposed that members of the Italian Parliament who have a criminal record should be barred from public office. As Grillo himself has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter caused by a car accident his critics say he has no right to represent Italians either. Grillo has always stated that he is not interested in becoming a member of the Italian Parliament anyway. Despite this, in July 2009 he publicly expressed his intention to present himself as a candidate for the PD's primary elections which, however, does not imply automatic presence in the Italian parliament.
Another proposal of his is that members of Parliament be limited to two government terms of office after which they might not stand again. Detractors argue that this would shorten the political life of competent and expert politicians, usually drawing Alcide De Gasperi
, Aldo Moro
and Enrico Berlinguer
as examples of brilliant politicians who served more than two terms. Marco Travaglio
replied that, for that sake, also the political life of much less popular Clemente Mastella
would have suffered.
Grillo is criticized as being a mere demagogue who attacks politicians on superficial issues and their private lives while unable to provide a valid alternative. For instance, Daniele Luttazzi
, famous Italian satirist, criticized Grillo in 2007 in an open letter published on the website of the news magazine Micromega. Luttazzi accused Grillo of being a "demagogue" and a "populist
", suggesting Grillo to choose between satire and politics, asserting the two are incompatible.
In 2007 Grillo criticized the "Memorial Day of Foibe Massacres and Istrian-Dalmatian exodus" and the President of the Italian Repubblic Giorgio Napolitano
In 2008, Grillo featured in the documentary, The Beppe Grillo Story, produced by Banyak Films for Al Jazeera English.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
activist, blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, who also works in theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
s and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Biography
Grillo was born in GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
.
After receiving his degree as an accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
, Grillo became a comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
by chance, improvising a monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
in an audition. Two weeks later he was discovered and launched by Italian TV presenter Pippo Baudo
Pippo Baudo
Giuseppe Baudo , known as Pippo Baudo, is a popular Italian television presenter. He is often referred to as "Superpippo". Baudo has also been the artistic director and president of Teatro Stabile di Catania....
. He subsequently participated in the variety show Secondo Voi for two years (1977–78). Later, in 1979, he participated in Luna Park by Enzo Trapani, and Fantastico.
In the 1980s his success rose further, thanks to shows like Te la do io l'America (1982, 4 episodes) and Te lo do io il Brasile (1984, six episodes). In these shows, he narrated his experiences of his visits to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, with anecdote
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...
s and witticisms about the culture, lifestyle and beauty of these places.
As a result, his popularity grew more and more, and he became the protagonist of another show developed especially for him, called Grillometro (Grillometer). In 1986, he was the star of prize-winning advertisements for a brand of yogurt.
Soon after this, his performances began to be characterized by an increasing level of political satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, often expressed in such a direct way that he quickly offended a lot of Italian politicians. In 1987 during the Saturday night TV show Fantastico
Fantastico
Fantastico may refer to:*Fantastico , a Bulgarian supermarket chain*Fantástico, a Brazilian television newsmagazine*Fantastico, the arch-nemesis of superhero Terrifica*Fantastico , an application installer script library...
7, he attacked the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
and its leader Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
, then Italy's Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, on the occasion of his visit in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. Grillo said:
If the Chinese are all socialists, whom do they steal from?
The joke hinted at the totalitarianism
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
of the PRC, but even more to the widespread corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
for which the Italian Socialist Party was known. As a consequence, Grillo was effectively and silently banished from publicly owned television; yet, he was vindicated a few years later when the Italian Socialist Party had to be disbanded in a welter of corruption scandals known as Tangentopoli
Tangentopoli
Tangentopoli is a term which was coined to describe pervasive corruption in the Italian political system exposed in the 1992-6 Mani Pulite investigations, as well as the resulting scandal, which led to the collapse of the hitherto dominant Christian Democracy party and its allies.-Popular distrust...
, uncovered by the Mani pulite
Mani pulite
Mani pulite was a nationwide Italian judicial investigation into political corruption held in the 1990s. Mani pulite led to the demise of the so-called First Republic, resulting in the disappearance of many parties. Some politicians and industry leaders committed suicide after their crimes were...
investigation. Craxi himself died in Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, unable to return to Italy where he would have been jailed for several convictions.
Consequently, from the beginning of the 1990s his appearances on television became rare: according to many people, the reason for this is a silent ostracism by politicians offended by his revelations about their hidden financial activities, fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
s and false claims. When one of his shows was finally allowed to be broadcast by RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
, in 1993, it obtained a record share of 16 million viewers. He was later banned definitively from Italian television.
He currently performs in theatres in Italy and abroad, often with outstanding success. Grillo's themes include energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
usage, political
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
and corporate corruption, finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
, freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, child labour, globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
. Recently Grillo started to encourage the use of Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
as the future of knowledge sharing, and generally he is a strong proponent of internet freedom.
Political activism
Grillo has spearheaded several national and international political campaigns. On Sept. 8, 2007, he organized a "V-Day Celebration" in Italy; the "V" stood for vendetta, vengeance, and vaffanculo ("fuck off"). During the rally, Grillo projected the names of two dozen Italian politicians who had been convicted of crimes ranging from corruption and tax evasion to abetting a murder. More than 2 million Italians participated in this rally. Grillo also used this rally to urge Italians to sign a petition calling for the introduction of a Bill of Popular Initiative to remove members of the Italian Parliament who have criminal convictions of any kind from their office. According to Internet scholars, V–day was the first case in Italian history of a political demonstration developed and promoted via word–of–mouth mobilization on the blogosphere and the social web.This was followed by the second V-Day on 25 April 2008, in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, S.Carlo square. This V-Day was dedicated to the Italian press and its government financial support; Grillo heavily criticized the Italian press for the lack of freedom; Umberto Veronesi
Umberto Veronesi
Umberto Veronesi Knight Grand Cross OMRI is an Italian surgeon and oncologist, internationally known for his contributions on prevention and treatment of breast cancer throughout a career spanning over fifty years. He heads Italy's Nuclear Safety Agency.-Scientific career:Veronesi was born in Milan...
(about his support for incinerators); NATO bases in Italy, the politicians (Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
was recently re-elected) and Retequattro, still holding TV frequences already given to Europa 7
Europa 7
Europa 7 is an Italian production centre of television channels owned by Francesco Di Stefano. Europa 7 produces and runs TV syndication nationwide in Italy.-History:In 1997, Europa 7 attempted for the first time to broadcast nationwide...
http://www.beppegrillo.tv/v-day-video/v2-day-torino-beppe-grillo/V2-Day-torino-beppe-grillo-video-integrale-5.htm.
On 1 September 2005, thanks to contributions from readers of his blog, Grillo bought a full page advertisement in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica
La Repubblica
la Repubblica is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. Founded in 1976 in Rome by the journalist Eugenio Scalfari, as of 2008 is the second largest circulation newspaper, behind the Corriere della Sera.-Foundation:...
in which he called for the resignation of the Bank of Italy
Banca d'Italia
Banca d'Italia is the central bank of Italy and part of the European System of Central Banks. It is located in Palazzo Koch, Roma, via Nazionale...
's (then) governor Antonio Fazio
Antonio Fazio
Antonio Fazio is an Italian banker, who was the Governor of Banca d'Italia from 1993 until his resignation amidst controversy at the end of 2005....
over the Antonveneta
Antonveneta
Antonveneta , was in 2008 the 9th largest banking group in Italy in terms of customer loans and the 8th largest in terms of total assets, with 1,000 branches, 10,800 employees and €50bn in assets....
banking scandal. In October 2005, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
chose him as one of the "European Heroes 2005" for his constant battle against corruption and financial scandals.
On 22 November 2005 Grillo also bought a page in the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, again claiming that members of the Italian Parliament ought not to represent citizens if they have ever been convicted in a court of law, even in the first degree of the three available in the Italian system. His blog now contains a regularly updated list of members of the Italian Parliament who have been convicted in all three degrees, in what he calls "operation Clean Parliament". Grillo claimed, in 2007, that data suggested that even Scampia
Scampia
Scampìa is a modern suburb in the north of Naples. The population is about 80,000.-Geography:The district lies in the far north of Naples. To the south are the suburbs of Piscinola-Marianella, Miano and Secondigliano.-History:...
, the most dangerous suburb of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and one of the areas with the highest crime rate in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, actually had a lower crime rate than the Italian parliament's membership.
On 26 July 2007 Grillo was permitted to speak to the members of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, where he drew attention to the dangerous, negative state of current Italian politics.
In August 2008, Grillo was the subject of a report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC-TV) international affairs program "Foreign Correspondent". Titled "The Clown Prince" the report profiled Grillo's life, political activism, V Day campaign, and use of the internet as a political tool.
In 2010, he started a political movement called "Movimento 5 stelle" ("Movement five stars"), without the desire to be a leader and to be elected, but only to join, by the Internet, people who believe in ideals like honesty and direct democracy, and saying that politicians are only subordinates of the people and that they should work for the country only for a short time and only if they are not condemned for crimes, and thinking about the problems of their country without any other interest. The movement will be truly a party chance only from the next political round, when they will purpose their name not only in some regions but also in the political elections. The five stars represent the five basic points of the shared program: Water, Environment, Transport, Connectivity, Growth.
Beppegrillo.it
Grillo maintains a blog (available in Italian, English and Japanese) at beppegrillo.it which is updated daily. Comments to posts regularly top the thousands (in the Italian version). According to TechnoratiTechnorati
Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs. By June 2008, Technorati was indexing 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media...
, the blog is ranked among the 10 most visited blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s in the world. In 2008, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
ranked Grillo's blog among the world's most powerful blogs.
Grillo often receives letters of appreciation and support from prominent figures, such as Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro is an Italian politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament, an Italian Senator, and Minister of the Prodi Government...
(former Italian Minister of Infrastructures), Fausto Bertinotti
Fausto Bertinotti
Fausto Bertinotti is an Italian politician and former leader of the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista. On April 29, 2006, after the center-left coalition's victory in the Italian general election, he was chosen by the new parliament as President of the Chamber of Deputies .-Trade...
(former President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies), Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano is an Italian architect. He is the recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, AIA Gold Medal, Kyoto Prize and the Sonning Prize...
, and even Nobel Prize Winners
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
(like Dario Fo
Dario Fo
Dario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
, Joseph E. Stiglitz
Joseph E. Stiglitz
Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, ForMemRS, FBA, is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and the John Bates Clark Medal . He is also the former Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank...
, Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
, Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and founder of the Grameen Bank, an institution that provides microcredit to help its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize...
).
Legal issues
In 1980 he was found guilty of manslaughter for a car accident in which he was the driver; three passengers lost their lives.During his shows Grillo never hesitates to name firms and personalities he considers corrupt, always supporting his views with data and documents . For this reason he has been sued several times for libel by many people and organizations which he had exposed, such as Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia is the largest Italian telecommunications company, also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Now a private concern listed on the Borsa Italiana, it was founded in 1994 by the merger of several state-owned telecommunications companies, the most important of which was...
.
When Italian judges were investigating the Parmalat scandal, which was then the world's largest corporate bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
scandal ever, Grillo was called to testify as he anticipated the imminent collapse of the dairy conglomerate in one of his shows. When he was asked by judges how he has been able to discover that, he simply said that Parmalat
Parmalat
Parmalat SpA is a multinational Italian dairy and food corporation. Having become the leading global company in the production of ultra high temperature milk, the company collapsed in 2003 with a €14 billion hole in its accounts in what remains Europe's biggest bankruptcy...
's financial holes were so evident that anybody who had enough ability to see them would see them, since the corporate accounting was easily accessible.
Criticism
Grillo is often criticized for his lifestyle. In particular, critics blame him for owning a motor yacht and a FerrariFerrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
sports car
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....
, both being in contradiction with his well known ecologist stance. In his blog he admits that he did, in fact, acquire both but has since sold them.
Grillo is also criticized for taking advantage of the Condono Tombale, a fiscal amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
granted by the first Berlusconi government in 2001, which Grillo publicly opposed. Grillo commented on this issue during the V-Day demonstration. He said that he had personally benefitted by only €500.
Grillo has proposed that members of the Italian Parliament who have a criminal record should be barred from public office. As Grillo himself has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter caused by a car accident his critics say he has no right to represent Italians either. Grillo has always stated that he is not interested in becoming a member of the Italian Parliament anyway. Despite this, in July 2009 he publicly expressed his intention to present himself as a candidate for the PD's primary elections which, however, does not imply automatic presence in the Italian parliament.
Another proposal of his is that members of Parliament be limited to two government terms of office after which they might not stand again. Detractors argue that this would shorten the political life of competent and expert politicians, usually drawing Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide De Gasperi was an Italian statesman and politician and founder of the Christian Democratic Party. From 1945 to 1953 he was the prime minister of eight successive coalition governments. His eight-year rule remains a landmark of political longevity for a leader in modern Italian politics...
, Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years....
and Enrico Berlinguer
Enrico Berlinguer
Enrico Berlinguer was an Italian politician; he was national secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1972 until his death.-Early career:...
as examples of brilliant politicians who served more than two terms. Marco Travaglio
Marco Travaglio
Marco Travaglio is an Italian investigative journalist, writer and commentator.-Biography:Travaglio was born in Turin. He started his career writing for Catholic publications such as Il nostro tempo , then worked for the renowned journalist Indro Montanelli for newspapers such as Il Giornale and...
replied that, for that sake, also the political life of much less popular Clemente Mastella
Clemente Mastella
Mario Clemente Mastella is an Italian politician. He is currently leader of Popular-UDEUR, a minor centrist Italian party. He was Minister of Labour in the Berlusconi government from 10 May 1994 to 17 January 1995, and Minister of Justice in the Prodi government from 17 May 2006 to 17 January 2008...
would have suffered.
Grillo is criticized as being a mere demagogue who attacks politicians on superficial issues and their private lives while unable to provide a valid alternative. For instance, Daniele Luttazzi
Daniele Luttazzi
Daniele Luttazzi , real name Daniele Fabbri, is an Italian theater actor, writer, satirist, illustrator and singer/songwriter. His stage name is a homage to musician and actor Lelio Luttazzi...
, famous Italian satirist, criticized Grillo in 2007 in an open letter published on the website of the news magazine Micromega. Luttazzi accused Grillo of being a "demagogue" and a "populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
", suggesting Grillo to choose between satire and politics, asserting the two are incompatible.
In 2007 Grillo criticized the "Memorial Day of Foibe Massacres and Istrian-Dalmatian exodus" and the President of the Italian Repubblic Giorgio Napolitano
Giorgio Napolitano
Giorgio Napolitano is an Italian politician who has been the 11th President of Italy since 2006. A long-time member of the Italian Communist Party and later the Democrats of the Left, he served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1992 to 1994 and as Minister of the Interior from 1996 to...
Filmography
Grillo has appeared in three movies:- Cercasi Gesù (1982)
- Scemo di GuerraMadman at WarMadman at War is a 1985 Italian-French comedy film directed by Dino Risi. It was entered into the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Coluche as Oscar Pilli* Beppe Grillo as Marcello Lupi* Bernard Blier as Belucci* Fabio Testi as Boda...
(1985) - Topo Galileo (1987)
In 2008, Grillo featured in the documentary, The Beppe Grillo Story, produced by Banyak Films for Al Jazeera English.
Official websites
- The English version of Beppe Grillo's personal blog
- Beppe Grillo's fans meeting map around the world