Colleagues urge Bruno Vespa to keep up the good work after his attack on Sabrina Brizzola: “Reserve that attitude for the powerful, too”

Usigrai, the Rai Journalists’ Union, has weighed in on the incident involving Bruno Vespa and the young Sabrina Brizzola. “Yet another ‘uplifting’ chapter in public service broadcasting from Bruno Vespa, the host with an artist’s contract. We wonder whether it is any longer tolerable that, in a Rai studio, we witness behavior that ranges from aggressive to paternalistic (we thought we were no longer in the era of Jane Austen’s novels!)—such as that directed at Sabrina Brizzola, coordinator of the Udu, the University Students’ Union (UDU), who—during the October 20 episode—was unable to finish her argument after being snapped at and aggressively interrupted multiple times by Vespa,” the statement reads.

And further… “We would like to see such a showman-like demeanor reserved for those in power as well—toward whom Vespa usually displays an enviable calm.”

Usigrai was founded in 1984. The inaugural Congress was held in Senigallia from January 31 to February 2 and elected Lucio Orazi as its first secretary. Since then, 16 Congresses have been held, and eight secretaries have served in succession: Orazi was succeeded by Ennio Chiodi, Giuseppe Giulietti, Giorgio Balzoni, Roberto Natale, Carlo Verna, Vittorio Di Trapani, and Daniele Macheda, who is still in office and was elected in 2021 at the Congress in San Donato Milanese.

Exactly one year ago, Vespa made headlines for getting the last name of a tennis champion wrong while attacking Jannik Sinner. “Why should an Italian root for Sinner? He speaks German (right, it’s his native language), lives in Monte Carlo, and refuses to play for the national team. Kudos to Alvarez, who plays in the Davis Cup for Spain,” he had written on X.