The pizzeria that Giovanna Pedretti ran.
Foto: CLAUDIO FURLAN/ LAPRESSE/ SHUTTERSTOCK EDITORIAL/ IBL
Giovanna Pedretti took her own life after the allegations
Photo: Facebook
Giovanna Pedretti, 59, was a woman unknown to most in Italy. She ran a pizzeria, “Le Vignole”, in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano a little outside Milan.
But in a short time she became known all over the country.
It started about a week and a half ago, when a review of the pizzeria appeared on Facebook. In the review, which is said to have been written this summer, the sender is said to have praised the food, but complained about having to sit and eat next to “some gay men” and “a boy in a wheelchair who had difficulty eating”, writes the Daily Mail. The person rated the pizzeria one star out of five.
The pizzeria’s response went viral
Giovanna Pedretti then responded to the review.
According to the Daily Mail, she wrote that the pizzeria was open to everyone, that it requires guests to respect each other and that it does not choose customers based on functional variations or sexual orientation.
“Your words of contempt for the guests who don’t seem to have bothered you are to me reprehensible and rather unpleasant”wrote the owner.
And:
“I kindly ask you not to return to us if you cannot agree to our human demands.”
The answer was picked up by a local newspaper and then spread quickly, both in social media and in the Italian national media. Giovanna Pedretti was praised for her reaction.
Initially.
Then it reversed.
Allegations of fake review
There were those who suspected that the review was fake. That it was the owner himself who had written it, a theory that spread via a blog. As if overnight, the previously unknown woman went from being hailed as a hero – to being described as a villain.
Among others, an Italian TV personality and influencer, Selvaggia Lucarelli, and her partner Lorenzo Biagiarell were vocal in their criticism, according to the Daily Mail. They allegedly accused Pedretti of staging one “marketing campaign”.
In an interview with local media, Giovanna Pedretti denied having lied.
Shortly afterwards, on Sunday 14 January, she was found dead. She is suspected of having taken her own life, but an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
“The Completion of a Tragedy”
The tragic story has also reached Sweden and was taken up in Saturday’s “Medierna” on Sveriges Radio P1.
– It is the completion of a tragedy, says SVT’s correspondent in Italy, Jennifer Wegerup, in the program.
She says that the debate is now raging in Italy, both in social and traditional media.
– If it was so, the investigation must show, that she wrote a false review, she could probably never dream of where this would go, says Jennifer Wegerup, who also states in “Medierna” that she herself has been reminded of the power of the media can have.
https://twitter.com/JenniferWegerup/status/1746927694938579070
ARE YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FEELING BAD? YOU CAN TURN HERE
Always take suicidal thoughts or plans seriously. Keep calm, but take action.
Speak and dare to listen. Express your concerns and ask questions. Give concrete examples of why you think there is a risk of suicide.
Show empathy and never judge. But maintain that everyone has their own responsibility for their actions.
A suicidal person needs to see someone from psychiatry right away.
Call 112 or go to an emergency room.
If possible – do not leave the person alone. Suicide is often an act of impulse. Suicidal people are often ambivalent to the end. It is possible to influence them. Emphasize that help is available and that things will get better.
Here you can go:
Bris: 116 111, bris.se.
Bris adult phone: 077-150 50 50.
Priest on duty: Reachable via 112.
Mind: chat on mind.se
Minds support phone Suicide Line: 90101
Mind’s parent phone: 020-85 20 00.
Red Cross: redcross.se.
Friend on call: Chat call is available at jourhavandekompis.se
SPES (National Association for Suicide Prevention and Survivors’ Support): spes.nu.
Telephone hours: 020 -18 18 00.
Sources: mind.se and www.spesistockholm.se
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