Lucio Presta breaks the silence and has his say on the sensational breakup with Amadeus, after a partnership that lasted many years. To do this she chose The newspaperto which he issued a long interview, explaining that they have “all the documentary evidence and testimonies of what was declared”. Also because the declared is not exactly very light.
The former manager of the artistic director of the last five Sanremo Festivalstarts right from the preparation of the first festival, defined in the interview “masterpiece of complicity” to reconstruct the stages that led to the end of the partnership with his client.
Presta says: “Amadeus didn’t even know where he could start formulating a regulation and what follows from it. I spent a few days with him in La Coruna, Spain, to write the entire regulation which he then brought to Rai as his work”.
The manager also says that he gave a fundamental contribution in choosing the technical cast: direction, costumes, set design, authors, but also the co-hosts. Same thing for contacts with record labels.
Amadeus, the requests and the break with Presta
What Presta describes as a total collaboration went on for four Festivals but, as we know, in the period of beginning preparation for the fifth Sanremo of the Amadeus era something broke, with a great deal of noise.
In his interview with The newspaper, Presta talks about the host’s requests on the occasion of the latest edition of Suzuki Arena, when Amadeus would have asked to be recognized as artistic director of the program produced by Arcobaleno 3 and “100% of the ownership rights of the format”. He requests that the production would have met in the amount of 90 thousand euros.
The manager then claims that, in view of the new Sanremo, the host said no to all his proposals and would also have declined requests for a meeting. “I asked to have a meeting with him and the answer was that he had a lot to do and that we would certainly meet in December to clarify some things (…) I realized that two of my close collaboratorswelcomed for years not only into the company but also into my life, began a direct and secret relationship with Amadeus, speaking badly of myself and indicating professional paths that he could exploit, violating the secrets of the company for which they worked”.
In December the host announced his intention to break the relationship with the manager. According to Presta: “he preferred to end our relationship immediately because my presence would have made him uncomfortable at the Festival […] On that occasion he confirmed to me that he would honor it the payment of my dues until the end of the contract (August 2024)”, later, however, the artist would communicate to the manager“which he intended to pay only until December. This is why instructions were given to the legal department to protect my interests.”
Among the background to the breakup, according to what Lucio Presta claims there was also a disagreement relating to a corner for the correspondents of the day time Rai, requested by the director ofDay Time entertainment, inside the Ariston. Presta claims: “He sent me a harsh voice message which I quote verbatim: No day-time program should have ever entered the Ariston, except Live Life. No correspondent from any program could have entered the Ariston except for the lady Giovanna Civitillo. All other correspondents from other programs must stay outside Ariston“.
The John Travolta case at Sanremo 2024
Finally, the manager also talks about the John Travolta casesaying that the first proposal from the actor’s manager, Oscar General, was that of a minimum fee because the sponsor would then pay the difference (the shoes then at the center of the accusations of hidden advertising): “I informed Amadeus advising him against having the operation” and in fact, even the host agreed to refuse giving up having the actor as a guest. But the manager then adds: “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 about the proposal were Amadeus and De Stefani“.
