One of the commentators in the new Italian documentary series, Paparazzi King, states that the crass entertainment programs that were made mainstream in Italian media by Silvio Berlusconi’s TV channels indirectly marked the beginning of the fall of Italian taste, aesthetics, and overall culture, which were once held in the highest of regards. The five-part docuseries about the tabloid life of Fabrizio Corona, a notorious criminal from Italy, sums up the absolute downfall that the country’s morals, ethics, and most importantly, mainstream media have experienced in recent years. While Paparazzi King touches upon a few of the unique elements of modern Italian society, its unnecessarily detailed presentation and the decision to give too much time to the criminal himself make it too lengthy and ultimately a disappointing watch.
Spoiler Alert
Who is Fabrizio Corona?
Fabrizio Corona was born in Sicily to Vittorio and Gabriella Corona, both journalists by profession, who left their home a few years after their son’s birth to avoid the rising violence and crime in the region. The family moved to Milan instead, which was quickly recovering from being the center of drug-related crimes and becoming the fashion capital of the world in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Vittorio Corona started his photographic agency named Corona’s, and it quickly became a very popular name in the city. The business grew to such an extent that Fabrizio was accustomed to global celebrities visiting their house and attending extravagant parties thrown by his father from quite a young age. By the time he was a young adult, Fabrizio wanted to be a photographer and a journalist as well, and joined the family business.
But there was already something distinctly different between the father and the son, as Vittorio always liked presenting a humble appearance of himself despite being so closely associated with film stars, politicians, and global sports personalities. Even at the lavish parties at his house, the man would mostly keep to himself, with Gabriella always by his side, and humbly speak just a few words on stage when asked to. In contrast, Fabrizio wanted a flashy lifestyle from the get-go, as he was dazzled by the attention and benefits that came with wealth and influence. Growing up, he never experienced any struggles, and soon after turning 18, he grew close to the controversial entertainment agent, Lele Mora, much against the will of his parents.
Lele Mora was already well known in mainstream media as a promoter of rather strange and overly sexualized television content. He had helped young men who originally worked as strippers become media personalities through mindless shows and appearances at parties, and Fabrizio expressed a keen interest in becoming famous in a similar manner. As per Fabrizio himself, he started to take cuts out of deals that he made with celebrities on behalf of Mora to appear on his shows. He started to make acquaintances with celebrities and people from high society through this job, and also started earning large sums of money as a promoter. It is also quite well-known that Fabrizio became a romantic partner to the much older Lele Mora, who was supposedly perverted enough to make sexual advances at any young men who worked with him. In the documentary, Fabrizio admits to having been in a similar arrangement with his boss at the time, although both claim that their lovemaking was restricted to cuddling.
Either way, Fabrizio started to make a name for himself while working with Mora, and his charming personality and confident attitude also helped him tremendously. It was through his work as a promoter that he met and grew close to the Croatian supermodel Nina Moric, with whom he soon started a romantic relationship as well. Around the same time, Fabrizio started to learn more about the world of celebrity photography, and especially paparazzi photo shoots, as it was already becoming a common affair in Italy.
With the advent of Milan as a globally iconic city, more and more celebrities flocked to the place to spend their vacations there, embark on shopping trips, and even go on extravagant dates. This created a space for paparazzi shoots and gossip content, and the highly sensational and scandalous nature of these photographs and reports meant that their popularity kept growing. Being involved in his father’s photography agency, Fabrizio Corona was also naturally exposed to this growing field, but he thought of things differently, considering paparazzi photo shoots to be a great opportunity to earn huge amounts of money from multiple sources.
How was Corona involved with the Vallettopoli Scandal?
After getting together with Nina Moric, Fabrizio Corona started to promote her at various events and shows, essentially becoming the manager of the supermodel, and earned millions through her. Around this time, several private photos of the couple were leaked in the media, which in turn made them even more popular. This was how Fabrizio was seemingly introduced to the world of the paparazzi, and only some time later, he became one of the primary accused in the notorious Vallettopoli scandal that shook the foundations of Italian society and politics. The scandal unveiled how numerous well-known figures from the worlds of sports, politics, business, and high society had been involved in acts of embezzlement, extortion, sexual promiscuity, and favoritism based on sexual favors.
As part of the investigation, led by the public prosecutor Henry Woodcock, it was found that several prominent members from Italian politics and sports had indulged in prostitution and racketeering. Fabrizio Corona’s name came up with regard to an extensive paparazzi scandal that led to extortion and blackmail. To put it simply, Fabrizio appointed a team of paparazzi photographers to visit clubs and high-end restaurants, often frequented by celebrities, to take scandalous pictures of said celebrities in compromising situations. It was considered a scandal because on many occasions, the man arranged for a situation that would lead to compromising photos, meaning that he paid sex workers to get overly friendly with celebrities and get them into intimate positions with them. This naturally ensured that he would get exactly the kind of photographs that he would be looking for, which he would then use to earn significant amounts of money from multiple sources.
Firstly, Fabrizio sold these photographs to gossip magazines and tabloids, receiving money from them for his invaluable service. Next, he would indirectly extort money from the individuals in the photos, threatening to release even more compromising images if he did not receive hush money from them and their families. Fabrizio admits to having earned huge amounts in such a manner in the documentary by having targeted the legendary Italian footballer, Francesco Totti. He totally took advantage of the moral deterioration that was gripping society and used his shameless nature to earn millions from it. Fabrizio had sold similar sensationalized photographs in a murder case and in the case of the accidental death of a young child, with no consideration for the families of the deceased.
Many of Fabrizio’s associates, including Lele Mora, were also charged with having been involved in the elaborate extortion scandal. Despite his best efforts to prove that he had not executed any extortion and had only tried to reveal the shocking truth to the public, Fabrizio Corona was ultimately arrested, and he had to spend 77 days in prison before being placed under house arrest. Even during this time, he flouted the house arrest conditions numerous times, which caused him to get into more trouble with the law, and even had himself photographed secretly while in prison, supposedly just to show the world the condition inside Italian prisons, which meant he faced fresher charges. This was only the beginning of Fabrizio Corona’s trouble with the law, as he was arrested multiple times after this and was ultimately sentenced to 14 years in prison in total.
Why is he a terrible figure in his personal life as well?
While Fabrizio Corona was an absolute dirtbag in his professional life, he was an even worse excuse of a human being in his personal life. As soon as he was named one of the primary accused in the Vallettopoli investigations, Vittorio decided to cut his son off from the family, refusing to see him ever again. Although Fabrizio did visit his father while the old man was on his deathbed and spent time with the family when the man passed away, he did not seem to mind this separation from his family much, as he remained focused on earning money. Gabriella tried to stay in touch with her son and support him as much as possible, but Fabrizio did not deserve any such respect or love. After being found guilty in one of the many criminal cases against him, Fabrizio tried to flee the country and remained missing for 4 days, during which time his poor mother feared that her son might have taken his own life, and she had to thank her stars that he was still alive, even though he was being dragged to prison when he was finally found.
Fabrizio had also shamelessly pimped out his partners in a way, as he had subjected each of them to his immoral scheme of earning money. When he went on vacation with his first wife, Nina Moric, Fabrizio paid his trusted photographer, Maurizio Sorge, to secretly follow the couple and click them while they engaged in intimate acts. Fabrizio then sold these ‘leaks’ to earn money and also make himself and Nina more famous, which led to the model getting more shows and events. After they eventually broke up a few years later, and Fabrizio started dating the Argentine-Italian model Belen, he pulled the same stunt with her. Many years later, when he was dating a much younger model named Silvia Provvedi, Fabrizio did the same with his third partner as well, ‘leaking’ nude photos of her just for fame and money.
Why did Corona commit the crimes he has been charged with?
The only two things that drive Fabrizio Corona to this day are fame and money, as he wants to become as well-known and globally recognized as possible, along with becoming one of the richest men in the world. His greed for money is evident from the numerous criminal and immoral acts that he has gotten involved in throughout his career, and in fact the latest case against him, for which he even faced jail time, was with regard to him having stashed a couple million dollars inside the walls of the house of his manager. Many of his acquaintances comment on how it is absolutely dangerous to try and go after Fabrizio’s money, as he is bound to react in a reckless manner in such a situation.
The other defining characteristic of the man is his appalling immorality, which he openly admits to as well. Fabrizio hardly ever cared about any of the women in his life, and only treated them as mere means to earn money. Even at present, he talks of them in an extremely demeaning and insensitive manner, almost mocking them for the insecurities and griefs that they felt while being with a leech like him. While the man is very open and frank about his nature and repeatedly mentions how he is unaffected by how the world perceives him, it is very evident that he absolutely craves the attention and validation of the world, without which he simply cannot survive. The best way to shut out people like Fabrizio Corona is to cut them off from the world and deprive them of the attention that they do everything for. While the criminal had been subjected to such treatment at the notorious Opera Prison in Milan for a few years, he has once again managed to return to the public limelight, now through the internet and modern social media platforms.
Where is Fabrizio Corona now?
After numerous run-ins with the law and spending significant time in prison over a span of several years, Fabrizio Corona is seemingly out of jail at the moment, and is possibly residing in Milan at this time. But there are still multiple allegations and criminal cases ongoing against him, and the man might be put behind bars once again in some time. Currently, Fabrizio runs his own YouTube show, named ‘Falsissimo,’ where he makes serious allegations against celebrations and claims to still be in control of a network of paparazzi photographers and investigative journalists. His latest claim has been against TV host Alfonso Signorini, as he has stated that the journalist has been demanding sexual favors from various individuals with the promise of letting them star in the Big Brother VIP show he hosts. Signorini has now filed official complaints against Fabrizio for slandering his name, for which Corona is currently under yet another police investigation.
