The famous Antonello Venditti is busy with his tour “Night before exams 1984-2024 40th anniversary” (we talked about it here) to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his immortal hit Night before exams.
Last August 25th the tour touched the city of Barletta, precisely in the moat of the Castle of the City, enchanting all the guests present on that warm summer evening with his most famous songs.
The concert seemed to be going smoothly in every way, but Antonello Venditti was the protagonist of an ugly episode towards his audience. Here's what happened.
ANTONELLO VENDITTI, GAFFE AT THE BARLETTA CONCERT
During his concert, Antonello Venditti he had heard some very similar verses of his coming from the audience that did not seem to bother him at first. After hearing them again and again, the artist became irritated because of the disturbance they were causing, not knowing where they were coming from and ended up imitating the verses.
At that point, a steward approaches Sold explaining to him that the sounds he was hearing were coming from a “special” girl in a wheelchair, with health problems and who was displaying reflexes that were uncontrollable by either herself or the people around her.
In reality, those “verses” were the girl’s way of trying to ask Venditti to sing instead of speaking, since at that moment she was telling an episode of her life to introduce the song she would sing shortly after.
The entire audience expected understanding from the artist, but this was not the case. Antonello Venditti – not yet knowing the girl's identity – he first challenged the alleged troublemaker by telling him “come here, let's see if you have the courage” and then he replied in an abrupt and inappropriate manner to the steward's words and towards the girl, stating that “I understand, he's a special boy, but he needs to learn manners.”
His response caused shock and indignation among the crowd, including the girl's parents who – however – maintained exemplary calm. Many think that the reaction of Sold whether it was dictated by a misunderstanding or by the tension that a moment like that, during a concert, can cause.
ANTONELLO VENDITTI, THE APOLOGIES ARRIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA (LATER REMOVED)
The day after the concert, through a video posted on Facebook, Antonello Venditti publicly apologizes for the unpleasant incident.
“I wanted to reassure you, first of all I'm not a monster, maybe I am but only physically. This stupid, stupid controversy is mounting, for the people who know me” he begins, then admits his mistake.
“I was wrong, in the dark I thought it was a simple political protest that I am used to. So I responded in a very violent way to this girl that I later found out about. Her name is Cinzia, her father and her family are fantastic. I want to apologize, I can't do more than apologize.”
The video was then deleted and the reason is unknown. Later on the same social profile of Antonello Venditti a post appears in which he comments on the note by Alessia Ambrosi, deputy of Fratelli D'Italia in which, after having attacked the artist, he mentions the Daspo “with a ban on concerts for those who display psychological violence, incivility and insensitivity.” Soldas already explained in the video, underlines the fact that he has already cleared the air with the girl's parents.
@cosimodamianomatteucci I was very upset when I saw the video of Venditti's concert yesterday in Barletta. I don't like media pillories of anyone. He apologized, and everyone can form an opinion about his sincerity. The video is here. I, on the other hand, want to do two things. The first is to hug Cinzia, her mother, her father, her family tightly. The second is to take advantage of this episode to highlight that I do not agree at all with the use of the expression “special boy or girl” to define people with disabilities, these people should be defined exactly like that, people with disabilities. Saying “special boy/girl” I think could be a form of dangerous pietism. Like wanting to deny the problem that the person in question has to face in his/her life. No. We must have the courage to forcefully claim the relevance and dignity of people including their disabilities. We are all special. Disability is something else: it calls everyone to collaborate, the State to be there, society to not discriminate and to welcome. It takes strength to affirm disability: we all must have it, without fear. That singer probably didn't understand. Nor does it help anyone to crucify him, especially after his apologies. We need to become collectively aware that disability involves all of us, even and especially those of us who don't suffer from it. #venditti #barletta #disability
♬ original sound – Cosimo D. Matteucci
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♬ Modern Rhapsody – Sean Walrus
The cover photo of the article is taken from the artist's Instagram page
