UPDATE 01/15/26 at 6:03 PM ET — influencer Chiara Ferragni came after a judge cleared him of aggravated fraud.
“Today I’m not celebrating a victory. Today I’m closing a chapter,” Ferragni wrote in a statement shared on Thursday, January 15 via Instagram. “I was at the height of my image and my career. There was no economic or common sense reason for me to deceive anyone.”
He continued: “I do not speak out of anger. I speak with full awareness. With the clarity of someone who knows that he faced everything without running away, without hiding, respecting both justice and silence even when it was the most difficult thing to do.”
The original story continues below:
Italian fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni he could spend up to five years behind bars if convicted of aggravated fraud.
Ferragni, 38, was charged in Italy in January with defrauding a handful of charity campaigns. In the charges, the social media personality was accused of falsely suggesting that proceeds from her sponsored Pandora Christmas cake would benefit a local children’s hospital. He later denied the allegations.
“We are firmly convinced that this matter has no criminal relevance and that all the controversial elements have already been dealt with and resolved before the AGCM,” his lawyers. Giuseppe Iannaccone i Marcello Bana he said Reuters in a statement shared at the time.
Reuters further reported that Ferragni was fined almost $1.1 million by the country’s Competition Authority (AGCM), which he agreed to pay.
Closing stars Many reality TV personalities have faced legal trouble over the years, but only a handful have served time for their crimes. Teresa Giudice and her ex-husband, Joe Giudice, spent time behind bars after being convicted of fraud in 2015. The Turning the Tables author served 11 months in (…)
“We realized that some internal analysis processes could have been better managed. We are working to improve some organizational aspects,” Ferragni said in Italy. Correo Milan newspaper in an interview in 2024 after the initial claims made headlines that same year. “I’ve always thought that if you have 30 million followers, if you do a charity work and talk about it, it creates an emulation effect.”
Ferragni also revealed that she and her husband, Federico Leonardo Lucia (better known as rapper Fedez), previously donated 50,000 euros to local hospitals in 2020.
“By communicating this, crowdfunding produced the best results in Europe, raising 4.5 million euros, which we were able to give to an intensive care unit in a month and a half,” recalled Ferragni. “Following our example, others have launched similar operations in support of other hospitals. My reason was that, within the business dealings between my companies and a partner, it was simply a good idea to try to add a small charitable component to (a) contract.”
Chiara Ferragni is seen outside a court in Milan, Italy on November 4.
Piero Cruciatti / AFPFerragni, who shares two children with Fedez, 36, stressing that all the tags on the cake read: “Chiara Ferragni and Balocco support the hospital” rather than directly revealing how the proceeds would be donated.
“The individual, Chiara Ferragni, should not be confused with the brand and the companies. Also, without the (company), there would have been no donation,” he said. “For me, the important thing was to donate.”
Ferragni’s trial began in September and will last until November. a fraud conviction in Italy it carries a prison sentence of one to five years in prison and a hefty fine in euros.
Fashion month is underway in Europe! After kicking off in the Big Apple and then London earlier this month, Milan Fashion Week has kicked off in Italy, starting Tuesday, September 19. The one-day event will conclude on Monday, September 25. Legacy labels such as Roberto Cavalli, Prada, Moschino and Tom Ford presented their Spring/Summer 2024 (…)
Ferragni currently has over 28 million followers on Instagram and also runs her namesake fashion and beauty brands. In addition, he created the blog “Blonde Salad” and the marketing agency TBS Crew.
“The future remains a question mark,” he admitted Correo Milan “I don’t know if my work is something that I will do for the rest of my life or if I want to tell my life forever. I know that I have I have always liked to communicate. At 16, I was using a tripod, taking self-portraits, wanting to see myself through the lens of the camera and make sense of myself. There was never the idea of keeping these photos to myself, but always of sharing them with the world and seeing what people thought of them, both good and bad.”