Rotterdam, 24 May 2021
You have undoubtably heard of this year’s winner’s controversy. Directly after winning Eurovision, images of Måneskin’s lead vocalist, Damiano David, surfaced showing him hunched over the salon table in the green room. Several people interpreted the images as him snorting a line of cocaine (which he somehow got past the airport security in the AHOY Arena?) in the Green Room, in full view of all camera’s and delegates present. The netizens were all too eager to give the matter a catchy name: “Sniffgate“, some calling for his disqualification, or at least his head on a pike.
After being asked about the issue at the winner’s Press Conference, a visibly confused Damiano denied the allegations, explaining that he was merely bending over to dispose of a broken wine glass. EBU officials later confirmed that the crew found remnants of the glass near Damiano’s seat in the green room, indicating that his story was true. Damiano offered to do an impromptu drugs test to prove his innocence. Because no such test was available at the time, Måneskin, the Italian delegation and the EBU all agreed that the test should be held upon Måneskin’s return to Italy. So they did.
The EBU have now issued a statement confirming that the test was indeed negative. You can read it all here if you wish.
So no, Måneskin did not break any protocols by taking illegal substances. They won Eurovision 2021, and they were clean throughout the process. Case closed, see ya in Italy next year!
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