Here’s the kind of thing that could only happen in 2019: Benito Mussolini’s granddaughter is absolutely furious with Jim Carrey because of his anti-fascist art, and they are having it out online.
A Twitter feud between Alessandra Mussolini—a conservative Italian politician and Member of European Parliament—and the comedic actor-turned-artist erupted after Carrey shared a sketch on Twitter of a dead Benito Mussolini hanging upside down with his mistress Claretta Petacci.
The drawing was accompanied by a caption: “If you’re wondering what fascism leads to, just ask Benito Mussolini and his mistress Claretta.” (The pair were hung upside down in a public square in Milan after they were executed by Communist partisan fighters in April 1945.)
In response, Alessandra Mussolini lashed out at Carrey, writing: “You are a bastard.” She posted several angry responses to his Tweet and suggested that he make drawings depicting America’s problematic history instead.
Despite Mussolini’s disapproval, Carrey’s Tweet has gotten 112,000 likes and 28,000 retweets.
The actor, famous for rubber-faced roles Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Dumb & Dumber (as well as for more serious work in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) has turned increasingly to art over the last eight years. But since the November 2016 election of President Donald Trump, Carrey’s paintings and sculptures have taken a backseat to his pointed political cartoons skewering the former reality television star’s policies and administration.
Carrey regularly shares these images on Twitter, including ones of Trump, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, and even figures he admires, such as Christine Blasey Ford, who testified against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh before his confirmation to the seat. In September, Carrey took these artworks offline with an exhibition at Maccarone Los Angeles, which also brought his work to the Outsider Art Fair in New York in January.
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