Mondadori responds to Feltrinelli: “It is unacceptable to suggest that we might be a potential target for acts of vandalism”

“We are deeply astonished by such surprising and ill-advised statements, made, moreover, in an already delicate social context and at a time of great uncertainty.” This is how the Mondadori Group has responded to the statements made to Il Foglio by the Feltrinelli Group following the well-known incidents of violence in Italian cities, with particular reference to the bookshop attacked in Turin, at Porta Nuova. "The young people went in simply because they were being chased by the Digos, because they were terrified of the police; that is why they vandalised the place. They did it, yes, but only because they were acting on impulse," Massimiliano Tarantino, head of communications, told this newspaper. “They don’t hate us,” he continued, adding that if it had been a political act, “they would have broken into an American bank or perhaps a Mondadori!”

When the matter was raised, the Segrate-based group responded with a statement. “Mondadori is a beacon of pluralism and freedom of expression. It is a publishing house that provides a platform for diverse ideas, perspectives and viewpoints; it is not a political entity to be identified with any particular party or faction. For this reason – the statement reads – it is all the more serious and unacceptable that it should even be suggested as a possible target for reprisals or acts of vandalism. We believe that all bookshops, regardless of their brand, represent cultural and social hubs for the whole community that must be protected and to which our unconditional support and full solidarity are, and always will be, directed.”