Gennaro Sangiuliano Wins Meme of the Year at Memissima 2024

Former Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano has been awarded "Most Memed Person of the Year" at Memissima, the festival of meme culture, held December 5–7 in Turin. The event, now in its third edition, is organized by Max Magaldi and produced by The Goodness Factory. Sangiuliano's scandal—involving a relationship with Maria Rosaria Boccia, an investigation for embezzlement and disclosure of official secrets, an assault, a TV confession, a spiritual retreat with his wife, and his resignation accepted by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni—inspired countless memes on social media. An AI-generated video showing a realistic Sangiuliano thanking the audience was part of the award. Out of 400 meme candidates, 13 winners were chosen across categories including Politics (Grande Flagello), TikTok (Marco Ballarini Sindaco), 7 Reels (Everything is Italian), 4 IGP (Relatable Roma Memes), School/University/Work (Cat splaining), TrashDankNonsense (Liskokopulos Cliiffiao), Music/Art/Entertainment (Correttore Mematico), Sports (Er Club La Riserva), Current Affairs (Il Silmemillion), Nerd (Memopoli Capopalestra), Troppo io (Produci Consuma Mema), and URMET (Filosofia Coatta). Last year's winner was Jerry Scotti.