Roberto Pettinato (born December 15, 1955 in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
) is an
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 ...
musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
,
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
, and
television presenter
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...
.
Early life
Pettinato's father, Roberto Sr., was a high-ranking corrections officer in the administration of
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected P ...
. When a coup deposed Perón in 1955, he and his family took refuge in the embassy of
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
, where Roberto Jr. was born. After obtaining a
safe conduct
Safe conduct, safe passage, or letters of transit, is the situation in time of international conflict or war where one state, a party to such conflict, issues to a person (usually an enemy state's subject) a pass or document to allow the enemy ...
and leaving for Ecuador, the family lived in
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
and
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
until allowed to return to Argentina in 1966.
Career
Music career
The younger Pettinato became involved in the
Argentine rock
Argentine rock (known locally as ''rock nacional'' , "national rock" in the sense of "local", "not international") is rock music composed or performed by Argentine bands or artists mostly in Spanish.
Argentine rock began by recycling hits of Eng ...
scene of the late 1970s mostly as a journalist with the ''El Expreso Imaginario'' monthly magazine, which he directed from 1980 until its demise in 1982. In parallel, he was the on-and-off saxophonist for the 1980s band
Sumo
is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...
, led by Anglo-Italian
Luca Prodan
Luca Prodan (17 May 1953 – 22 December 1987) was an Italian-Argentinian musician and singer who rose to fame as the leading vocalist of Sumo, one of the most influential rock bands of Argentina,''Argentina Independent''Lo de Luca: Homage to a R ...
.
He has released a
free jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...
album named ''Free Jazz Musica Anticomercial'', as Robert Pettinato & Now Free Jazz.
Television career
After Prodan's death and the band's dissolution, he started working in
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
together with
Gerardo Sofovich
Gerardo Andrés Sofovich (March 18, 1937 – March 8, 2015) was an Argentine businessman, dramaturge, television host and presenter, comedian, scriptwriter, and director.
He was the producer of '' Polémica en el bar'' and ''La noche del Domin ...
, co-hosting ''La noche del Domingo'' in the early 1990s. Later on, he gained popularity by hosting ''Duro de acostar'' on
Telefe
Telefe (acronym for Televisión Federal) is a television station located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The station is owned and operated by Paramount Global through Televisión Federal S.A. Telefe is also one of Argentina's six national television ...
, a midnight talk show modeled after
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...
's. In the mid-1990s, he attained cult status by co-hosting post-midnight sports and showbiz show ''Orsai'' (a deformation of the
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
term
off-side) with Gonzalo Bonadeo on one of Argentina's many sports cable channels.
As an actor, he took part in ''Primicias'', a television series produced by
Pol-Ka
Pol-ka Producciones is a television and film production company in Buenos Aires, Argentina, commonly referred to as Pol-ka.
The company was launched in 1994 and is owned by Adrián Suar, Fernando Blanco and Artear (Clarín Group). The first tel ...
and broadcast by
Canal 13.
He also hosted TV programs ''Mira quien canta'', ''Todos al diván'', ''Petti en vivo'' (
Canal 9), ''Un aplauso para el asador'' (Canal 13), and the ironic ''Indomables'' (
América TV
América TV (call sign LS 86 TV) is an Argentine television station broadcasting on channel 2 in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and one of Argentina's five national television networks. It is owned by Grupo América.
América T ...
) and Duro de Domar.
In March, of 2009 he began
Un Mundo Perfecto
Un mundo Perfecto is an Argentinean TV program hosted by comedian and musician Roberto Pettinato and distributed by América TV. The show features interviews with celebrities and members of the public, comedic monologues
In theatre, a monologu ...
, a
late-night talk show
A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show popular in the United States, where the format originated. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It i ...
on (
América TV
América TV (call sign LS 86 TV) is an Argentine television station broadcasting on channel 2 in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and one of Argentina's five national television networks. It is owned by Grupo América.
América T ...
).
Following the unexpected ending of ''Indomables'' due to a conflict between the production company PPT and América TV, the production renamed and moved the program to Canal 13, where Pettinato (as of October 2006) hosts ''Duro de Domar''.
He has hosted since 2004 an FM radio morning show called ''El Show de la Noticia''. He was absent from the program for over one week after a fire in his son's (Felipe Pettinato) apartment where Melchor Rodrigo, a neurologist, had died.
Sexual misconduct accusations
In February 2018, several women who worked with him, including Karina Mazzoco,
Mariela Anchipi, Josefina Pouso, Virginia Godoy, Ursula Vargues, and Emilia Claudeville, accused him of sexual harassment and abuse.
They stated that he would "suck" their necks without their permission until he made them cry, and humiliate them in front of other people with whom they worked.
For example, Josefina Pouso stated, "all those who have worked with him, the majority who have worked with him, have told something similar, worse or perhaps a little lighter, but it was still harassment or abuse." The accusers have witnesses who backed up their claims, but can not make a formal complaint before the law due to Argentine laws regarding prescription for the amount of time spent.
Pettinato has refused to talk to the media, such as the television program ''
Intrusos'', about the accusations.
In the aftermath of the accusations, Pettinato left Argentina for
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
, alleging that he was going to start a television show in the country, but reports from both countries summarized that Pettinato left Argentina to become a "media exile" due to the accusations.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettinato, Roberto
1955 births
Mass media people from Buenos Aires
Argentine male actors
Argentine people of Italian descent
Argentine people of Norwegian descent
Argentine people of Scandinavian descent
Argentine television journalists
Argentine male journalists
Argentine musicians
Argentine television talk show hosts
Living people