Brian Molko charged for calling Italian Prime Minister a "fascist" at Placebo show

18 February 2025, 12:03

The star made the comments at a gig back in 2023 - now he faces a potential fine for his actions.

By Radio X

@RadioX

Placebo frontman Brian Molko has been charged after allegedly branding Italy's Prime Minister "racist" and a "fascist" on stage.

The musician's troubles began in July 2023 after footage appeared online of him allegedly shouting "Giorgia Meloni, piece of s**t, fascist, racist," in Italian during the band's performance at the Sonic Park festival in Stupinigi outside Turin.

Molko asked fans not to record his words but recordings were made and after the incident surfaced online, prosecutors in Turin officially opened an investigation.

According to Italian newspaper La Stampa, Italy’s justice ministry has now given prosecutors the right to launch legal proceedings on charges of “contempt of the institutions”, with the paper claiming that “the crime in question is subject to direct summons to trial”.

If found guilty, Molko could be fined between €1,000 and €5,000.

A spokesperson for the band told The Guardian that the band would not be commenting on the story.

Last summer, Placebo caused a stir when they told critics to "get a life" following complaints about their performance at the OpenAir St Gallen festival in Switzerland, defending the show by claiming they experienced "unrepairable technical issues" during the gig.

Brian wrote on Instagram: "We have been noticing a great deal of discussion, arguments, accusations and skirmishes between our fans in relation to our truncated concert at St Gallen festival. We have also been on the receiving send of many (unimaginative and entitled) insults. So we would like to offer some clarity on what happened during our concert at St Gallen festival.

"Shortly into the set, Stefan [Olsdal] began to have technical issues until finally his guitar system ceased to function completely. So he could no long play any songs where he plays guitar. Every effort to remedy the problem by our world-class crew was taken but to no avail.

"We had the option to walk off and not come back, but we decided to take back to the stage and finish playing what we physically could: the songs where Stefan plays bass.

"We made several announcements from the stage (in German) to explain that we were experiencing temporarily unrepairable technical issues. We made this very clear from the stage several times.

"Placebo use no recordings onstage... If the idea of this unavoidable situation continues to enrage you regardless, we suggest that you go watch bands where most of the music coming from the stage is recorded. We also suggest you get a sense of perspective and try to take a look at this situation from a point of view that isn’t yours - if you are at all capable. This is a polite way of saying - get a life."