Giorgia Meloni

Giulia Cortese, 36, was found guilty of defamation after a 2021 post in which she described Meloni as four feet tall.

The PM — then an opposition politician — said she sued because the post also included a doctored photo adding a framed picture of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to her bookshelf.

However, a court in Milan yesterday dismissed the claim in relation to the picture of Mussolini while rebuking the journalist for “body shaming”.

Cortese had written that Meloni was a “little woman” and added: “You don’t scare me… I can’t even see you.”

The court ordered Cortese to pay €5,000 to Meloni and also imposed a suspended fine of €1,200.