An Italian director has worn a homemade t-shirt showing its support for disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein at Venice Film Festival.
Luciano Silighini Garagnani, a Conservative D-list Italian casting director turned filmmaker, proudly paraded a t-shirt which read “Weinstein is Innocent” with a photo of the mogul himself.
Garagnani – who posed for tonnes for photos – also chose to wear trainers, jeans and a blazer while others wore black tie at Saturday night's red carpet world premiere of Suspiria.
Garagnani is a known supporter of media tycoon and former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi. He also donated money to Donald Trump's presidential campaign and is a staunch supporter of the Republican party, according to his IMDb page.
The 42-year-old’s latest film, which was released in Italy earlier this year, provided a positive angle on Mr Berlusconi’s notorious “bunga-bunga” sex parties.
Mr Weinstein, 66, has been accused by more than 70 women of sexual misconduct, including rape, in accusations that date back decades.
Many of those women were young actresses or employed in the film business – with Mr Weinstein accused of exploiting his role as a top producer to prey on the women.
The Hollywood mogul, who produced Shakespeare in Love, Pulp Fiction, and Gangs of New York, could serve life in prison if he is charged.
Dakota Fanning, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Alek Wek, Mia Goth and Chloe Grace Moretz attended the Venice red carpet to celebrate the premiere of Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria.
The t-shirt saga comes after Venice Film Festival was accused of failing to do enough to tackle the issue of gender disparity – just one film in this year's competition was directed by a woman.
However the festival this week signed an agreement aimed at targeting gender equality. The pledge, introduced at Cannes by French organisation 5050×2020, was signed by prestigious festivals. It pledges transparency in the festival selection process and also promises both the collection and publication of statistics establishing the number of films entered and the gender of the filmmakers.
Mr Weinstein has previously denied any wrongdoing.
