Jim Carrey's Drawing Of Executed Italian Dictator Enrages Alessandra Mussolini

Carla Herreria
Updated

Actor Jim Carrey’s political art has aggravated the granddaughter of the late fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

Alessandra Mussolini, an independent, far-right member of the European Parliament, told Carrey on Twitter Sunday that he was “a bastard.” She was responding to his drawing of her grandfather and Claretta Petacci, his mistress. The two were executed in April 1945 as Nazi Germany and its Mussolini-led puppet government in northern Italy were losing World War II.

After their execution, Mussolini and Petacci’s bodies were hung upside down on display in Milan. Carrey’s drawing was a depiction of infamous photos of the hanging.

“If you’re wondering what fascism leads to, just ask Benito Mussolini and his mistress Claretta,” Carrey tweeted.

Alessandra Mussolini continued to defend her grandfather to people who sided with Carrey in the tweets.

“My grandfather fought to liberate Europe from people like your grandfather,” one person wrote to her.

She replied: “do you want applause?”

Alessandra Mussolini has frequently defended her dictator grandfather, who is considered the father of fascism, installed Nazi-inspired anti-Semitic laws in Italy and waged war against the rest of the world with Hitler.

In October, Mussolini threatened to alert authorities in Italy any time someone disparaged Benito Mussolini on social media. In a tweet, she said would take legal action against any “offensive” images or text about her grandfather.

She also announced last year that she would be joining Italy’s League party, a far-right political group that is part of Italy’s populist government.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story listed the wrong date of death for Benito Mussolini. He died in 1945. Language also has been amended to clarify that Nazi Germany was allied that year not with Italy but with a puppet-led government it installed in the country.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.