Italian politician Alessandra Mussolini has publicly insulted Jim Carrey after he tweeted a drawing of the hanging of her grandfather, Benito Mussolini, and Claretta Petacci.
The Canadian-American actor expressed his views on fascism by sharing the sketch with the words: “If you’re wondering what fascism leads to, just ask Benito Mussolini and his mistress Claretta.”
The drawing, created by Carrey himself, shows the executed former Italian dictator and his mistress hanging upside down in Piazzale Loreto, Milan.
It gained traction on the social media platform – and warranted an angry response from Ms Mussolini herself.
“You are a b******”, the politician and former actress replied.
Her comment sparked a debate on the platform, with political communication specialist Evan O’Connell telling her: “I think you’re confusing Jim Carrey with your murderous grandfather.”
Another user said: “Nothing hurts like the truth.”
The star has been sharing political sketches on Twitter for the past few years
Mussolini, who established a dictatorship of Italy in 1925, was put in charge of a puppet regime in northern Italy by Adolf Hitler in 1943 before his execution.
He and Petacci were captured by Italian communist partisans and killed by firing squad on 28 April 1945 after attempting to flee to Switzerland. Their bodies were then taken to Milan, where they were hung upside down at a service station.
Carrey, who did not respond to the MEP’s online slur, has been sharing his political cartoon drawings since August 2017. They have included controversial pictures of President Donald Trump and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Carrey’s artwork has been exhibited in the US
His show titled IndigNation opened at the Maccarone Gallery in Los Angeles on 23 October last year, and features 108 pen-and-ink drawings from his Twitter feed.
In 2015, Carrey called California governor Jerry Brown a “corporate fascist” who was poisoning children by enacting the vaccination requirements after the signing of a new vaccination law.
