Barbara D'Urso is taking Mediaset to court. The host has decided to sue the company that kicked her out three years ago after a mediation process ended in a stalemate.
Cologno Monzese responded to the lawsuit, which was previewed by the online edition of La Stampa, rejecting "all charges": "The lawsuit contains a reconstruction of the facts that is instrumental and does not correspond to reality. The host's claims for compensation are completely unfounded. Mediaset has always acted in accordance with its obligations and its editorial policy, therefore it is confident in the positive outcome of the dispute," explains Professor Andrea Di Porto, a lawyer for the company.
D'Urso is still awaiting an apology for the insults in a March 2023 social media post on the official "Qui Mediaset" profile, owned by the company, which has always maintained it was hacked. According to the host's lawyers, this isn't the only violation of the Mediaset Code of Ethics: they also allege the lack of royalties for the programs she authored over 16 years of work and for her proprietary format, "Live non è la D'Urso." Another ongoing issue, La Stampa reported, concerns the fact that D'Urso was required to have the list of guests for all her shows pre-approved by Maria De Filippi and Silvia Toffanin's productions. This reconstruction has been rejected by reliable sources close to Cologno Monzese: "During the contract renewal process, in 2023," they emphasize, "D'Urso was offered the continuation of Pomeriggio 5. The renewal did not materialize due to D'Urso's demand to host two prime time slots, which were not deemed compatible with the schedule requirements."
Furthermore, it is further noted, "the host's departure has nothing to do with the change in Mediaset's editorial policy." As for compensation, "Barbara D'Urso, thanks to contracts alone, has earned close to €35 million for her years of collaboration with Mediaset, to which must be added the revenue received from advertising investors, which is unquantifiable." Furthermore, it is recalled that "in 2003, Pier Silvio Berlusconi and the company entrusted Barbara D'Urso with the hosting of Big Brother, the network's flagship program, offering her the opportunity to return to the airwaves after having been off the air for years."
The day after her departure from Mediaset, the host confided in her "pain." Replaced on Pomeriggio 5 by Myrta Merlino, she left the company in December 2023. "In a few days," D'Urso wrote on her social media profiles, "the 16th edition of Pomeriggio 5 will begin, the first without me. I created and lovingly curated that program for 15 years, and it is a source of pride for me that a program born, grown, and identified with me continues under the same name." The long post continued: "It has been an extraordinary adventure, which has allowed me to fight social battles, to interview all the political leaders up until the last election campaign, to inform you and keep you company during the dark months of the pandemic."
"With dedication," D'Urso insisted in her post, "and selflessness, I have been at the company's complete service, without ever missing a single appointment." The host subsequently spent some time in England before returning to Italy to begin her journey with Rai. After appearing on an episode of Domenica In, as a guest of Mara Venier, she joined the cast of Dancing with the Stars last year, paired with dancer Pasquale La Rocca, finishing in third place.
Upon her arrival at Ballando, she declared: "I'm in a temple of RAI, where, among other things, I began my career, alongside Pippo Baudo. Now I'd like to avoid talking about the past: the real reasons for the split with Mediaset may come out one day." D'Urso, born in 1957, was one of the most iconic faces of Mediaset, where she hosted, among other programs, three seasons of Big Brother (from the third to the sixth, and an episode of the fourth surpassed the ratings of a night of the 2004 Sanremo Music Festival, an unprecedented feat in television history), Mattino Cinque, and La Pupa e il Secchione. She also acted in films and TV series, the most famous of which was La Dottoressa Giò.
(Unioneonline)