Not just the memes, the mockery on social media, the criticism of the embarrassing ‘qua qua dance’ outside the Ariston with Amadeus and Fiorello. John Travolta’s performance in Sanremo becomes a coincidence: raising doubts is the possible hidden advertising of the shoe brand for which the Pulp Fiction actor is the testimonial and which he wore last night. A pair of white sneakers, with the dark logo highlighted: a detail captured by the cameras, even more so because the Hollywood star also danced on stage with the artistic director, mentioning the steps from her most famous films. Enough to spark controversy, a few days after the ruling of the Regional Administrative Court which confirmed the fine of 175 thousand euros imposed by Agcom on Rai for the hidden promotion of Instagram at the 2023 festival.
“There was no commercial agreement with Travolta”, underlines RAI’s Prime Time Entertainment director, Marcello Ciannamea. The actor, he specifies, “did not take a fee but only a reimbursement of expenses. Even a low one. There is nothing else”. “Just an editorial agreement. There was no desire to take particular shots of the feet”, adds deputy director Federica Lentini, who however admits “the mistake of not darkening the shoes”: “there is an assistant next to the stage and perhaps for reasons of fear he did not consider covering the brand with scotch tape.
“I don’t even know the brand of the shoes, how can you imagine that I’m promoting a pair of Travolta’s shoes? This is Fantasanremo”, Amadeus blurts out. “All this Travolta drama… nothing’s happening, everything’s going well, where can we go to find some bullshit that makes you want to argue? It was a funny gag, then he won’t like it, he’ll have second thoughts.” … If someone said: he took 400 thousand euros to do that shit, I would understand it, but it came as a reimbursement for expenses”, he reiterates impatiently. And he explains that the actor had been “warned of everything: there was no trap, he was not forced to do anything, he was aware of everything that happened and shared it”. And that the performance would be a dance, “was stipulated in the contract.”
For its part, U-Power, the shoe manufacturing company which has included Travolta in its testimonial patrol since last summer, with Gerard Butler, Diletta Leotta and Charles Leclerc, specifies that the actor’s participation in the festival “is result of an agreement between Rai and the actor of which U-Power is in no way a party”. Even the contents of the performance “are a matter of exclusive competence of the artistic direction”.
There are those who speak of a fee of 200 thousand euros for Travolta, those who – like Corriere della Sera – of a million that would have been paid by the company to bring the actor to Sanremo, just to ensure visibility. The only certain thing is that in front of the TV, during the performance, there were on average 11.8 million spectators, equal to a 60% share. There are also those, like Selvaggia Lucarelli, who line up other doubts on social media: in the front row, behind the conductor, there was Franco Uzzeni, owner of U-Power; videos featuring Travolta have been removed from the Raiplay website; the actor had a pair of shoes with a different logo than usual, black on white and therefore more visible. Among other things – Lucarelli continues – Travolta’s appearance was advertised by U-Power and today retailers are using images and videos to launch the shoes. And one of the brand’s pay-offs is Don’t worry be happy!, an expression used by Amadeus to launch the qua qua qua dance.
Just one case, replies the artistic director: “Don’t worry, be happy, I took it from the song. I didn’t have the faintest idea. They don’t write me the scripts word for word.” Next to him Teresa Mannino tries to diffuse the tension with a joke: “These are the only English words she knows”. As for the videos, “Travolta signed a contract with a series of rights only for the live broadcast”, specifies Lentini. He asks for clarity from Codacons, who presents a complaint to Agcom and Antitrust “so that they open a formal investigation” into the matter.
Read the full article on ANSA.it
2024-02-08 19:13:00
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