Eurovision winners slam ‘bulls**t’ cocaine conspiracy theory
Måneskin won the Eurovision Song Contest. (Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty)
Eurovision winners Måneskin have condemned “bulls**t” allegations one of them used drugs during the contest, insisting that they have “never used cocaine or other drugs”.
Måneskin were crowned the winners at the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final on Saturday night (22 May) with their song “Zitti E Buoni” – but the Italian rock band’s victory was quickly overshadowed by social media speculation about drug use.
Footage was widely shared on Twitter appearing to show Måneskin singer Damiano David leaning down towards the table in front of him, with many fans speculating that he was snorting cocaine.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has since cleared the band of any drug use following an internal review and a drugs test. Speaking to NME on Wednesday (26 May), the band insisted that they weren’t phased by the social media commentary.
“For us, this wasn’t really a problem at all,” said Måneskin bassist Victoria De Angelis.
“We knew it was bulls**t. We never did that and we would never do such a thing on live television with 180 million people watching us. We’ve never used cocaine or other drugs so we immediately said, ‘Just test us because we have nothing to hide and we don’t want people to talk about stupid things like this and not our music.'”
She added: “We were so happy with our victory, so we wanted to keep the focus on us and not this stupid s**t.”
Eurovision winner Måneskin gets abuse for not conforming to ‘gender norms’
Elsewhere in the interview, David said his band often gets abuse because they don’t conform to “gender norms”.
“The boys wear make-up and we talk a lot about sexuality,” David said. “The song is about that too – you should just be yourself, express yourself and not care about what other people have to say.”
The European Broadcasting Union hit out at inaccurate social media commentary about drug-use in a statement on Monday (24 May), saying David had proven there were no illegal substances in his system with a drug test.
“We are alarmed that inaccurate speculation leading to fake news has overshadowed the spirit and the outcome of the event and unfairly affected the band,” the EBU said.
“We wish to congratulate Måneskin once again and wish them huge success.”
