It's a scandal that's rocked millions but you've probably never heard of it (2024)

Wearing custom Dior, Italian influencer and businesswoman Chiara Ferragni looked like a certified princess as she walked down the aisle to officially marry the father of her son – Italian rap superstar Fedez.

It was 2018. The couple had spent their rehearsal dinner in a castle in Noto, and would go on to celebrate their nuptials with a #Ferragnez-branded carnival.

The wedding weekend is estimated to have cost £704,000 (approx. $1.3 million), but, of course, Italy's answer to Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales could only have the best.

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Six years on, it appears the seemingly perfect life the former couple were intent on projecting to their combined following of 43.6 million has come crumbling down.

Rumours of a split have been rumbling in Italian media for months, but it wasn't until April that Fedez – whose real name is Federico Leonardo Lucia – confirmed they had broken up.

What happened between Chiara Ferragni and Fedez?

Ferragni, 36, and Fedez, 34, first met in 2015. At the time, both were with other people, but they would ultimately go on to start dating in late 2016.

By 2018, they had welcomed their now-six-year-old son, Leone, and by 2021, they had been married for three years, and had welcomed a second child, now-three-year-old daughter Vittoria.

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After months of speculation, Fedez confirmed the separation in a television interview with Rai2's Francesca Fagnani in early April, where he referred to Ferragni as his wife, but clarified to Fagnani that he uses that term "only legally".

Ferragni has not publicly commented on the split at this stage.

Fedez, who first rose to fame in 2013 with his debut album Sig. Brainwash – L'arte di accontentare, emphasised that, as the mother of his children, Ferragni is still the "most important woman" in his life.

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He also clarified that the split was not caused by cheating, rather, it stemmed from a series of problems that had snowballed over the years.

"[Ferragni] and I have gone through many difficult moments, such as my illness," Fedez, who shared he had been diagnosed with a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour in 2022, told Fagnani.

"They have been three very complicated years and unfortunately we didn't hold up."

Fedez's health battle – which saw him "undergo a long path" to recovery and also be rushed to hospital with severe internal bleeding in September 2023 – was only, however, one of the problems he was referring to.

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How Pandoro-gate factored into Chiara Ferragni and Fedez's split

While Fedez said he couldn't divulge when, exactly, the couple split, he did reveal how Pandoro-gate was the final blow to a relationship that was already in crisis.

"I find out about this thing here when it comes out. I also have a foundation, I have always done charity work in a certain way, losing money," he said.

"You discover that a deal is managed in this way, and you ask yourself: how is it possible?

"The fact that I took the s--t without guilt is there, the thing that hurt me was having to answer for something I didn't do," he continued.

"I would have handled it another way. But I'm sorry that everyone sees the bad faith. I am sure, however, that there is no bad faith. She then decided to take all the responsibility."

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So what, exactly, is Pandoro-gate?

You may remember headlines circling around Ferragni in December 2023, when she issued an apology over a partnership she embarked on in November 2022.

Ferragni, as part of a campaign with Balocco, designed limited edition Pandoro Pink Christmas cakes – a twist on a classic Italian treat, similar to Panettone, that is gifted and eaten at Christmastime – and those cakes were marketed as a charitable venture, with proceeds from the sales said to be donated to a children's hospital in Turin, Italy.

Officials, however, realised that the alleged revenue generated from the cakes and how much the hospital ended up being paid didn't add up.

More than a year later, following an investigation, Ferragni was fined $1.8 million for false advertising.

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"My mistake was in good faith... Unfortunately you can make mistakes, I am sorry I did it and I realise I could have guarded better," Ferragni said in an apology issued on social media.

"In the coming days, I will speak with Queen Margaret to understand how the hospital will use the money donated by me and I will periodically tell you updates," she continued.

"My mistake remains but I want to make sure that something constructive and positive can be generated from this mistake."

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It's a scandal that's rocked millions but you've probably never heard of it (2024)
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