Vladimir Putin makes all the headlines nowadays and not for the right reasons, so here’s another story regarding the Kremlin leader. I know the title sounds a bit ambiguous so I’ll explain a bit. How is that even possible? Well, so it happens that actress Ornella Muti is the one who pays dearly for having dinner with the Russian leader. The Italian actress has been sentenced to 8 months in prison and a 600 euros fine for being absent for the show that was playing at the theatre she is working at. The 59 old artist is to receive a suspended sentence provided that she pays 30,000 euros damage to the offended party, the Verdi Theatre from Pordenone, Italy. So, for skipping scheduled play to dine with Putin the choices are either 8 months of jail time or a 30,000 euros hefty fine. I’ll just hope that the dinner was well worth it.
Ornella has been found guilty of aggravated fraud and forgery by the court in the Italian city of Pordenone for faking a medical certificate to skip the play at the theatre she was due to perform. Saying she was ill, Muti provided a doctor’s note that stipulated five days of sick leave and presented the note to the theatre so that the management would change the date of the play she was performing. I guess this wouldn’t have been nothing but the fact is Ornella already received 25,000 euros in advance to perform at the said theatre. The fake doctor note said that the actress suffered from laryngitis and thus prevented her to perform in the play. On the day of the play she attended a charity dinner with Vladimir Putin and actor Kevin Costner in St. Petersburg, as reported by il Giornale.it
Ornella Muti participated at an event hosted by Vladimir Putin
The said event has been recorded on video along with Muti’s presence and in the wake of this the Verdi Theatre sued the actress. Although the local prosecutor’s office thought of a lax sentence of about six and a half months, the court from Northern Italy however brought unusual heavier charges against the actress thus the Italian actress receiving the eight month sentence. The event took place on December 10, 2010 at St. Petersburg’s Ice Palace during a charity event dedicated to fight child cancer and eye disease and many other celebrities attended there, including Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Kurt Russell, Sharon Stone, Mickey Rourke, Gerard Depardieu and of course, Vladimir Putin