Fabrizio Maria Corona (born 29 March 1974) is an Italian entrepreneur, television and media personality and former

paparazzo Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...

. He is a former partner and director of ''Corona's'', a photographic agency in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. He was involved in various legal proceedings, including the ''Vallettopoli'' investigation of 2007 into the

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

of various female entertainment and sports personalities. In 2015 he was sentenced by the Italian Supreme Court to 13 years and 2 months' imprisonment for a series of crimes.

Career

Corona was born in

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

to a family of journalists, the son of Vittorio and Gabriella Corona. He has two brothers, Francesco and Federico. A former partner and administrator of ''Corona's'', a photographic agency in

, Corona was the central figure in a series of investigations into the 2007

scandal known as ''Vallettopoli'', which involved many celebrities in the entertainment business and sports. He was arrested and spent 77 days in prison; however, on 29 May 2007, he was released but placed under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

. He wrote a book, ''La mia Prigione'' (''My Prison''), about his experiences as a result of the ''Vallettopoli'' scandal which received much attention from the Italian media. In March 2009, he was a participant in the

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

''La fattoria''. Corona made his acting debut in May 2010 in the television drama series ''Squadra antimafia - Palermo oggi 2'' which was broadcast on

Mediaset Mediaset Italia S.p.A., also known as Mediaset, is an Italian-based mass media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE - MediaForEurope. Founded in 1987 by former ...

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a s ...

. He played the role of

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

boss Ivo Principe, nicknamed Catanese. Also, in 2009, he was charged over blackmail photos. In 2013 he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, became a fugitive but finally gave himself up after four days. Corona also appeared as himself in

Erik Gandini Erik Walter Gandini (born 14 August 1967) is an Italian-Swedish film director, writer, and producer anprofessorof documentary film at Stockholm University of the Arts. His film '' The Swedish Theory of Love'' premiered at the 2015 Stockholm Inter ...

's expository documentary, '' Videocracy'', in which his relationships with political and television industry moguls such as Lele Mora and

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

are explored. He discusses his business, jail time, and celebrity as well. Corona appeared in photographs advertising the 2010 collection of a line of designer watches. Corona collaborated with

Maurizio Mian Maurizio Mian (born 25 March 1956) is an Italian entrepreneur and pharmaceutical heir who is the CEO of The Gunther Corporation. A noted eccentric, Mian has often used his dog Gunther as a figurehead for his investments in sports clubs, propert ...

on creating a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show, ''I Magnifici Cinque'' ( en, The Magnificent Five). In 2017 Corona stated in one of his court appearances that Mian had paid him €1.7m to promote the "crazy" project. In 2015 he was definitively sentenced by the Italian Supreme Court to 13 years and 2 months' imprisonment for crimes for which he was previously convicted. In December 2019, he was placed under house arrest on medical grounds. In March 2021, a court in Milan ordered his return to prison.

Personal life

From January 2009 to April 2012 Corona was romantically involved with

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

showgirl and model

Belén Rodríguez María Belén Rodríguez Cozzani (, ; born 20 September 1984), better known as Belén Rodríguez or Belén, is an Argentine television personality, actress and model. Based in Milan since 2004, Rodríguez has hosted variety shows and appeared ...

which attracted much gossip and publicity.''Corriere della sera'', 14 January 2009, retrieved 19 May 2010 From his former marriage to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n model

Nina Morić Nina Morić (22-07-1976) is a Croatian-Italian fashion model. She became an Italian citizen after her marriage with photojournalist Fabrizio Corona. Biography Morić was born in Zagreb into an upper-middle class household. After finishing hig ...

, Fabrizio Corona has one son, Carlos Maria Corona, who was born in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corona, Fabrizio Living people 1974 births Italian television personalities Mass media people from Catania Italian photojournalists Photographers from Sicily