Italy's culture minister resigns after admitting an affair with a ministry consultant

MILAN (AP) — Italy’s culture minister resigned Friday days after tearfully acknowledging an affair with a ministry consultant that embarrassed Premier Giorgia Meloni's government.

After standing by him for nearly two weeks as the scandal brewed, Meloni accepted the resignation of Gennaro Sangiuliano, a member of her far-right Brothers of Italy party, calling him "an honest man.”

Beyond the affair, the scandal included speculation that the consultant, Maria Rosaria Boccia, had been given access to sensitive government documents pertaining to an upcoming G-7 culture ministers meeting.

It erupted last month when Sangiuliano denied Boccia’s announcement on social media that she had formally been named an adviser for major events in the ministry.

She has since filled her Instagram feed with rebuttals as Sangiuliano tried to tamp down the firestorm surrounding her. They included a recording that appeared to confirm her appointment and her insistence that the ministry had always paid for her expenses despite Sangiuliano’s denials.

In an interview Wednesday on RAI state television, Sangiuliano said Boccia's appointment had never been finalized due to the potential conflict of interest related to the affair. He also said that he had personally footed the bill for her expenses while on ministry business, and insisted that she never had access to sensitive government material. He said he had broken off the brief affair on Aug. 8.

“The first person I must apologize to, an exceptional person, is my wife,'' Sangiuliano said tearfully. “I apologize to Giorgia Meloni, who trusted me, for creating embarrassment for her and for the government.”

Sangiuliano put his mark on the ministry by replacing foreigners who were directors at top Italian museums and installing a new head of the Venice Biennale to counter what some saw as years of left-wing bias. He also backed a new 5-euro entrance fee to the Pantheon, Italy's most visited cultural site.

In a statement, Meloni thanked him for his “extraordinary work that permitted the Italian government to deliver important results in the relaunch and valorization of the great Italian cultural heritage, also beyond national borders.”

Meloni was on hand later for the swearing in of Alesandro Giuli, head of Rome's MAXXI museum of contemporary art and architecture for nearly two years, as the new culture minister.