The agent of the major Italian artists reveals how the relationship with the host of the Festival came to an end
April 28, 2024
The former Amadeus agent, Lucio Presta, in an interview with the ‘Giornale’ explains the reasons for his divorce from the host of the last five Sanremo festivals who a few weeks ago announced his farewell to Rai to move to Discovery on the Nine. “Many years ago I had the privilege of being received by President Andreotti for the usual exchange of Christmas greetings. They were short meetings (maximum 30 minutes) in which I learned more things than I learned in subsequent years. The first is that there is a full-blown disease called Beneficiary’s Rancorous Syndrome. The second is that gratitude is the feeling of cowardice and the third is that if you do good to someone you will have many angry people and an ungrateful person” Presta’s words.
Asked if his words were referring to the end of his relationship with Amadeus, Presta admitted: “He’s not wrong. My long relationship with Amedeo Sebastiani could be summarized with the prophecies of Giulio Andreotti. I don’t want to talk about the pre-2020 Sebastiani because it has nothing to do with that of the 2020-2023 period”, added Presta.
“Before arriving at the fifth Festival, this year’s, in September, Amadeus and I did the third edition of Arena Suzuki ’60-2000, produced by the Arcobaleno tre company”, explains Presta speaking of the company “Una volta mia”, specifies, because then “with the entry into force of the circular drawn up by the Supervisory Commission which prevents the manager from being a producer of the artist he represents, I sold the shares to third parties and I only carry out my job as a manager. Once the Arena Suzuki program was over, we began work on the fifth Festival and then the first Rai meetings to define the promo campaign, the scenography and the claims. I started writing the Sanremo Area regulation and ratified it with the Municipality. Naturally all work done for free which was not my responsibility. Why did I do it? Out of respect for the city of Sanremo and the Artistic Director (Amadeus, ed.)”.
Pressed on the timing and causes of the divorce between the two, Presta goes back to last summer and says: “Amadeus asked me and my son for an appointment as producer of Arena Suzuki. It was June 2023. During this meeting Ama made a request: that the company pay him for the artistic direction and that he be recognized 100 percent of the ownership rights of the format. Request not collectable. Management that was already paid by Rai which had entered into an agreement with Arcobaleno Tre, owner of the format. I remind Amadeus that not only can he not boast those titles, but that the Rai Supervisory Commission has prohibited the possibility that artists can take money from the producers of the programs they host. As manager I left the meeting.”
Subsequently, the manager reports that “Amadeus remained with my son who gave in to his insistence to the point of recognizing him a share as artistic director of the program and for having collaborated in the creation of the program. I repeat: which is not true because if that had been the case he would have been obliged to give the format to Rai as per his contract with the company”. Why did his son do it? “So as not to break the relationship that existed between me and Ama and for the great affection that my son has for him. He awarded him 90 thousand euros, in addition to those paid in previous years and which were also not due. Money that Ama regularly invoiced with the wording artistic direction, thus contravening the Rai Supervision circular. Furthermore, the purchase of the program took place over the years by Rai as a purchase of filming rights, so the format is in fact Arcobaleno Tre’s”, explains Presta.
When asked if he was able to give an answer as to why Amadeus had acted the way he did, Presta replies: “I honestly believe he was pushed to do it, I don’t recognize him in this gesture. After having collected the above invoice, on 3 December 2023, Ama asked for a new appointment, set for 14 December where she announced her intention to interrupt the relationship after the end of the Festival”.
Final observations on the presence of John Travolta at the last Festival, which aroused several controversies and on which Presta claims to have “informed Amadeus advising him against having the operation” and that “Amadeus immediately agreed not to have Travolta at the Festival ”.
Even if things didn’t go that way: “In November – says the manager – a month later, Travolta’s manager relaunched the offer. I didn’t reply but I shared with Alessio De Stefani, my collaborator and author of the Festival that they had offered again. I’m sure that once we arrived in Sanremo the manager contacted De Stefani and proposed everything again. The fact is that at the Festival, what the manager proposed then came true and the only people who knew of the proposal were Amadeus and De Stefani. In the meantime, with De Stefani and Dal Bello the collaborative relationship with Arcobaleno tre and also with me had been interrupted due to incorrect behavior and violation of industrial secrets. Dal Bello still collaborates with Amadeus as an assistant, I have no confirmation of De Stefani since The Voice has finished”.
