Marianna Tomaselli is the latest celebrity to be involved in a public brouhaha. Earlier this month, the actress and model were accused of plagiarizing an essay written by a French writer. Marianna has taken the stand that she did not copy the entire article, only including some of its content. Her lawyer, Patrick Doyle amicably explained to reporters that Marianna only included portions of the essay which directly pertain to her career. The original author is still unknown, however the website where the piece originally appeared had been removed by an internet-savvy company.
The original article in question, written by France’s prominent author, Jules Ventreilliers, can be found online. In it, Mr. Ventreilliers makes reference to Marianna Tomaselli as “a person of exceptional taste who has done great things while being at the peak of her profession”. According to Mr. Ventreilliers, Marianna Tomaselli is simply “a supermodel with nothing else to her name but a height”. In fact, he goes on to say that her “height may be an asset but it will never compensate for talent, patience, intelligence, sense of humor and courage”. This is one tall claim, and even the normally reserved Mr. V could be prone to using colourful language.
Regardless, Mr. Tomaselli has since attempted to placate the furor by issuing an apology via a statement to the editor of Variety magazine. Despite this clarification, questions still remain. Why has a performer who does not appear to be of legal age been accused of plagiarism? And given that there is no clear indication as to what cultural nationalities or national origins have influenced her career, how does her sudden nationality have to do with her sudden fame? And finally, why on earth should anyone associate their names with a height increasing, high maintenance face who wears a fedora and expensive suits?