Controversy in Gallarate, Gassman: "Remove my father's name from the theater". The mayor responds

The controversy surrounding the Remigration Summit, the conference of the European far-right , with many representatives of the League, which aims to repatriate migrants to their countries of origin, does not subside. After the demonstrations against the rally held last Saturday in Gallarate, Alessandro Gassmann, son of Vittorio, after whom the theater that hosted the meeting is named, is now also taking the field. "Remove my father's name from the Teatro Condominio", wrote the actor son of Vittorio Gassman, in a post addressed to Andrea Cassani , mayor of the town in the Varese area that hosted "the international meeting of European far-right parties (neo-fascists and Nazis)".

"If your intention is to continue to host demonstrations with racist and illiberal slogans in a place of culture - Alessandro Gassmann said - I ask you to remove my father's name from the aforementioned theater", because "my father had relatives deported and killed by the Nazi-fascists. Thank you". The national ANPI relaunched Gassmann's message on its X account and added to the post: "Thank you Alessandro! #nevermorefascism".

The mayor of the Northern League, Andrea Cassani, replied by writing that Vittorio Gassman, "an eclectic man of culture, was never afraid to express his political affiliation" and "like all people of value, who have made the history of our country, probably would not have fought the ideas of others with a priori censorship but with the strength of more convincing ideas".

"The fact that a cultural association of right-wing youth organized a summit, paying for the hall, does not seem to me to be an affront to the figure of the great Vittorio Gassman" added the mayor, addressing Alessandro Gassmann directly.

"Gallarate - Cassani underlined - has always been a democratic city with a great attention to culture. We can boast of having four theaters, two museums and we are among the few non-capital cities to have a music conservatory. We have invested a lot, for many years, in culture and one of the most beautiful cultural places in the city bears the name of his father. This is a tribute from Gallarate to a great man and a great artist".

In any case, "this episode will certainly provide us with the opportunity to review the rules for renting public halls, including those of the Teatro Condominio 'Vittorio Gassman'", the Northern League mayor underlined, quoting the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi who declared that "in a democracy, all contributions and all components are needed with respect to such complex phenomena. We must not be afraid of anything, even ideas that may appear very strong, very controversial, very debatable even, not shared in some way", such as those presented on Saturday in the theatre named after the great Vittorio and which - the son is sure - his father certainly would not have liked. Just as some commercial activities in Gallarate did not like them, which chose to remain closed until the end of the Remigration Summit, explaining, with signs posted in their windows or posts on social media, "we do not intend to serve the fascists".

The national ANPI relaunched on its X account the message with which Gassmann asked the mayor to remove the name of his father Vittorio from the city's theater: "Thanks Alessandro! #maipiufascismi'.