Italian judge orders a journalist to pay 5,000 euros in damages for making fun of Meloni’s height

ROME (AP) — A judge in Milan has ordered an Italian journalist to pay 5,000 euros or nearly $5,500 in damages to Premier Giorgia Meloni for making fun of her height in social media posts. The judge ruled on Wednesday that two social media posts by journalist Giulia Cortese amounted to “body shaming.” Cortese was also handed a suspended fine of 1,200 euros or around $1,300. Cortese described Meloni as a “little woman” in a post on X in  October 2021. She then wrote in a separate post: “You don’t scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you’re only 1.2 meters tall. I can’t even see you.”