It's OK to call Venetians 'drunks' says Italy's top court

Olivero Toscani, an iconic photographer who has shot high-profile campaigns for the clothes chain Benetton, made the Idea while speaking on the radio show 'La Zanzara' in February 2015, Corriere reported.

Toscani, from the neighbouring region of Lombardy, ruffled feathers by calling the Venetians “ancestral alcoholics,” adding that “it's not their fault if they were bo in that place – but it's their destiny.”

Toscani offended many Venetians with his Idea last year. Photo Dieter Nagl/AFP

His remarks are based on the long-standing stereotype that Venetians love nothing more than getting drunk.

Toscani's Idea offended many Venetian listeners, four of whom attempted to bring charges of defamation and racial hatred against him.

After a lower court in Venice rejected the charges last July, the four plaintiffs pursued their appeal at the highest court. Earlier this week, the Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal, ruling that the Idea were too general to be seen as defamatory.

“In defining Venetians' as drunkards, Toscani made very general statements based on stereotypes and clichés about a specific area of the country,” the court said in its ruling.

Judges said the Idea could not qualify for defamation as they made no reference to any "specific, identifiable figures".

They also rejected the claims that the charges could constitute as racial hatred as they did not discriminate against a group of people "on the grounds of their nationality, ethnicity, or religion".