Alessandra Mussolini in 2014. Image by Getty Images

By PJ Grisar April 2, 2019

Twitter is a commons of free thought that has no equivalent in our history. Every so often we’re granted reminders of how thoroughly connected the little blue bird has made our lives. Who could have foreseen, for instance, that we would one day have a medium wherein Jim Carrey and Benito Mussolini’s granddaughter could engage in a public fight over freedom of expression?

On the afternoon of March 30, Carrey, an actor best remembered for ‘90s comedies where he quite literally talked out of his rear end, tweeted his rendering of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, hanging dead from a gas station roof in Milan’s Piazzale Loreto. If the caption is any indication, Carrey meant the artwork, drawn from a photograph by Vincenzo Carrese taken after Il Duce’s execution in April 1945, to demonstrate how pursuing fascism can end badly for the despots in control.

If you’re wondering what fascism leads to, just ask Benito Mussolini and his mistress Claretta. pic.twitter.com/uc2wZl0YBu

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) March 30, 2019

In short order, Alessandra Mussolini, Benito’s granddaughter and a veteran politician who once left her country’s far-right party when they called fascism “evil,” voiced her displeasure at Carrey’s tweet.

You are a bastard

— Alessandra Mussolini (@Ale_Mussolini_) March 31, 2019

Carrey let the picture be his last word on the matter, but Mussolini continued to barrage his handle with a parade of historical horrors attributable to Americans. Evidently, she thought the man who originated the role of Ace Ventura, Pet Detective had unfairly targeted her forebear and the movement that he was the scowling face of.

Mussolini wondered why Carrey didn’t instead draw an atomic mushroom cloud (an apparent nod to Hiroshima and Nagasaki).

Hi @JimCarrey now draw this for us pic.twitter.com/tDZ9RB1WLm

— Alessandra Mussolini (@Ale_Mussolini_) March 31, 2019

She gave him further prompts in the form of Native American chiefs standing against a backdrop of Mount Rushmore and a black man tied to a whipping post.

And now @JimCarrey draw this other … pic.twitter.com/0tfwUDImYi

— Alessandra Mussolini (@Ale_Mussolini_) March 31, 2019

I think @JimCarrey should draw that too pic.twitter.com/2oIwvL1KyU

— Alessandra Mussolini (@Ale_Mussolini_) March 31, 2019

Mussolini then quizzed Carrey on the history of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott.

Hi @JimCarrey do you know the history of #RosaPark? pic.twitter.com/tVbvqISt2N

— Alessandra Mussolini (@Ale_Mussolini_) March 31, 2019

Many on Twitter pointed out that Carrey was in fact, born in Canada, but Mussolini was unconvinced.

Hi shit, naturalized American, idiot

— Alessandra Mussolini (@Ale_Mussolini_) March 31, 2019

But let the record reflect Mussolini didn’t universally condemn Americans. While still railing against Fire Marshall Bill and his visual art hobby, Mussolini offered this succor to our American president who, like her grandfather, was depicted unflatteringly in the comedian’s oeuvre:

President @realDonaldTrump doesn’t have to worry about poor @JimCarrey politica attacks; his drawings are only dirty paper

— Alessandra Mussolini (@Ale_Mussolini_) March 31, 2019

PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture intern. He can be reached at [email protected].

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount