Satirical films about Silvio Berlusconi’s Bunga Bunga sex parties have been ‘buried’ by his media empire, according to the actor who played the late Italian leader.
Toni Servillo played Berlusconi in the 2018 two-part cinematic Loro and Loro 2 which depicted him plotting his prime ministerial comeback.
The films show the media and property tycoon enjoying escort-filled parties in the aftermath of his longest period in office.
But now Servillo has accused the late leader’s media empire of burying the films amid growing efforts by his followers on the Right of Italian politics to protect his legacy.
The films were initially distributed in Italian cinemas by Universal Pictures in April and May 2018 but Mediaset, the media company Berlusconi founded in 1993, is believed to have purchased the Italian rights soon after.
Since then the films have not been aired on the company’s channels and are unavailable on Italian streaming platforms, with the DVD not distributed in the country.
In a video interview with the Instagram star Dario Moccia Servillo said: ‘The films are available on the French, German and British markets.
‘Clearly, the film was purchased by those who have no interest in it being seen in Italy.’
Fabio Vittorini, a media professor at IULM university in Milan, told The Times the films may have been smothered because of their ‘extremely potent satire’.
Berlusconi launched Mediaset in 1993 and offered Italians a racier form of entertainment filled with exciting game shows and bikini-clad women, a sharp departure from the staid output of the public broadcaster RAI.
The business venture also consolidated his public profile and provided a launchpad for his election as prime minister the following year.
The company is part of the Fininvest holding group which is chaired by his daughter Marina Berlusconi.
It has tried to ensure his legacy does not decline into a caricature by continually promoting his name and honouring him every July with adverts marking the anniversary of his death.
Streets and squares, even Milan’s Malpensa airport, have been named after him.
Throughout his career, Berlusconi’s reputation as an astute businessman rivalled that of his debaucherous playboy image.
News of lewd behaviour, sex parties and engaging in sex-for-pay with underage prostitutes soon hit headlines at news outlets around the world.
Former guests and acquaintances of Silvio have previously claimed they attended wild nights filled with orgies, female strippers and raunchy pole dances.
The wild antics reportedly took place at his private villa in Arcore, near Milan, Italy.
And according to National World, The term ‘Bunga Bunga’ itself was coined following the events of a peculiar ritual that took place during these parties.
Some reports suggest that women performed erotic dances and sexual acts on Silvio and his guests.
The untamed nights were said to include aspiring models and actresses sometimes referred to as ‘Berlusconi’s girls’ or ‘showgirls’.
In the film Loro, an escort-service owner uses his girls to get close to Berlusconi, who is preoccupied with his shaky marriage and losing an election.
Loro speculates on what may or may not have taken place behind closed doors, depicting a wide variety of characters from multiple levels of society and their attempts to either ingratiate or distance themselves from him.
Long before Donald Trump parlayed his business success into a White House bid, Berlusconi was charming millions of Italians by presenting himself as a self-made man who enjoyed life and spoke his mind, even to the extent of insulting fellow leaders.
Berlusconi also wielded huge influence through his television and newspaper interests – he effectively invented commercial TV in Italy – his ownership of AC Milan football club, and his sheer wealth, as Italy’s richest person for a decade.
Despite being diagnosed with leukaemia, he was active in politics to the end as a senator and partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s rightwing government.
A onetime cruise ship crooner, Berlusconi used his television networks and immense wealth to launch his long political career, inspiring both loyalty and loathing.
Key dates in the life and career of Italy’s scandal-tainted former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose death was announced on Monday.
September 29, 1936: Born in Milan.
1961: Starts his real estate career, building residential districts on the outskirts of Milan.
1978: Founds the Fininvest holding company, comprising media, financial services, publishing and, from 1986 to 2017, the Milan AC football club.
1994: Creates that ‘Forza Italia’ (Go Italy) movement, which wins legislative elections, giving him his first stint as prime minister from May to December.
1996: Goes on trial for the first time on corruption charges and is sentenced to 16 months in prison for false accounting, but acquitted on appeal.
2001: Starts a second stint as prime minister after his right-wing alliance wins the general election, serving for five years.
2008: After a new electoral win, returns as prime minister until 2011, resigning in the midst of a national financial crisis that risks bringing down the entire eurozone.
2013: Sentenced to four years in prison for tax fraud through his Mediaset media empire, and is stripped of his seat in the Senate. The sentence is commuted to one year of community service, which he serves in a home for Alzheimer’s patients.
2015: Acquitted on appeal after a 2013 conviction for paying for sex with a teenage prostitute and abuse of power in the ‘Rubygate’ or ‘Bunga Bunga’ affair.
2019: Wins a seat in the European Parliament, becoming the assembly’s oldest MEP at age 82.
2020: Spends 11 days in hospital with Covid-19, calling the experience ‘perhaps the most difficult ordeal’ of his life.
2022: Campaigns behind the scenes to become Italy’s president but withdraws before voting begins in parliament. In September’s general election he wins a seat in the Senate, making a triumphant return to politics.
February 2023: The ‘Bunga Bunga’ sex scandal comes to an end when an Italian court acquits him of charges.
April 5, 2023: Admitted to intensive care at a Milan hospital for heart problems. The next day, doctors announce he is suffering from leukaemia and a lung infection.
May 19: Discharged from hospital after more than six weeks of treatment, saying, ‘I won again’.
June 9: Hospitalised for what his doctors say are ‘routine checks’ related to his leukaemia.
June 12: Dies at San Raffaele hospital.