Fedez Rai ban linked to Sanremo anti-govt rap says CEO

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 3 - Rai's decision to bar Fedez from a talk show is linked to the rapper's anti-government raps at this year's Sanremo Song Festival and the Labour Day concert, both screened live by the state broadcaster, Managing Director Roberto Sergio told Corriere della Sera newspaper Tuesday.
    "The problem isn't about paid or free participation," he said about the Milanese rapper's exclusion from the Belve show on Raidue.
    "The decision is linked to his last two appearances on Rai, both on May Day and the last Sanremo".
    The rapper and pop star created a furore after taking aim at two government officials during a freestyle rap he performed at the Sanremo song festival in February.
    In the rap, Fedez mentioned a "deputy minister dressed as Hitler" and tore up a photo showing Transport and Infrastructure Deputy Minister Galeazzo Bignami dressed in a brown shirt with a Nazi armband - an image dating back to 2005.
    He also said "unfortunately abortion is a right, yep, I didn't say so, a minister did" - a reference to Family Minister Eugenia Roccella.
    Stefano Coletta, the director of prime-time entertainment for Rai, which organizes the festival, said at the time that the State broadcaster "strongly disassociates itself from the personal attacks of Fedez's performance".
    At the annual leftwing union organized May Day concert, broadcast live from Rome, Fedez took aim at government policies on migrants and minority rights again and quoted a rightwing League party member as saying he would burn alive a son if he found out he was gay.
    Fedez, 33, one part of Italy's premier showbiz power couple with influencer and businesswoman Chiara Ferragni, is currently hospitalised with a fresh haemorrhage after nearly dying from massive blood loss caused by two stomach ulcers linked to pancreatic cancer surgery he had last year.
    The rapper's Rai bar has been slammed by opposition parties.
    Belve host Francesca Fagnani said she disagreed with Rai management's decision.
    photo: Fagnani and Fedez (ANSA).