Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was not known for his sensitivity and certainly had no shortage of controversial comments.
The 86-year-old billionaire The media mogul’s sense of humor often got him into trouble.
Here, we take a look at some of his most awkward, nasty and offensive comments.
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Sweet letter to Putin as Russia invades Ukraine
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Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi photographed in 2003. Photo: AP
In October of last year, Berlusconi he stood resolutely by his old friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite Western anger over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The former Italian leader said the Russian leader sent him a “very sweet letter” and he sent one back.
He said: “Putin for my birthday sent me 20 bottles of vodka and a very sweet letter. I responded with bottles of Lambrusco and an equally sweet letter.”
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Called Obama ‘handsome’ and ‘tanned’
Among the series of controversial comments, Berlusconi also described Barack Obama as “handsome, young and tanned”.
He made the comment to Obama in November 2008, after Obama was elected president of the US and also became the country’s first black president.
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Barack Obama with Berlusconi and former Russian resident Dmitry Medvedev in 2009
He told earthquake survivors they should see it as a ‘camping weekend’
In 2009, Berlusconi visited earthquake survivors in Italy’s central Abruzzo region, who were staying in emergency tents.
He said, “They should see it as a camping weekend.”
The earthquake killed about 300 people and left tens of thousands of others homeless.
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Berlusconi lifts a child during his visit to the Abruzzo region affected by the earthquake in 2009. Photo: AP
Condemned by the Vatican newspaper for “deplorable” jokes.
Berlusconi was also condemned by the Vatican’s official newspaper in October 2010, after he told a joke about a Jew accusing his fellow Jews of hiding in his basement from the Nazis, without telling them that he had World War II ended.
He also made a number of other jokes, which were described as “deplorable” by the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.
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Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dies
Berlusconi: “It’s better to like pretty girls than to be gay”
The former Italian prime minister also caused controversy for an offensive comment he made in 2010.
He rejected calls to resign over reports he helped a 17-year-old girl attending parties at his house, saying it was “better to like pretty girls than to be gay”.
Berlusconi refused to apologize for his fondness for young women and denied any wrongdoing.
“As always, I work non-stop and if every now and then I see a pretty girl in my face, it’s better that she likes pretty girls than being gay,” he told a gathering at a motorcycle industry show in milan
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Image: AP
The West should be “aware of the superiority of our civilization”
Berlusconi also boasted of the “supremacy” and “superiority” of Western civilization and took aim at Islamic countries.
In October 2001 he said that while the West has a value system “that has given people widespread prosperity in those countries that embrace it, and guarantees respect for human rights and religion… This respect , certainly does not exist in Islamic countries.”
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Berlusconi raises two fingers behind the head of then Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Piqué
Rude gestures behind the then Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs
During a group photo at an informal EU summit in Spain in 2002, Berlusconi sparked controversy after raising two fingers behind the head of then-Spanish foreign minister Josep Piqué in the traditional gesture Latin for a cuckold.
“Mussolini never killed anyone,” according to Berlusconi
He also claimed that fascist dictator Benito Mussolini “never killed anyone”.
“Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini sent people on holiday into (internal) exile,” Berlusconi told Spectator magazine in 2004, answering “yes” when asked if he thought the dictator of World War II was “benign”.
“I am the Jesus Christ of politics”
In February 2006, Berlusconi was also quoted by Italian media as telling supporters: “I am the Jesus Christ of politics.
“I am a patient victim, I bear everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone.”
