Entertainment
Eurovision Song Contest winners did not take drugs at final: Singer Damiano David passes test after video goes viral
The European Broadcasting Union has confirmed ‘no drug use took place in the green room’ at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
There had been some speculation after Maneskin won the competition for Italy with footage showing Damiano David bending towards the table, and he vehemently denied any claims.
Now, the EBU has said: ‘Following allegations of drug use in the Green Room of the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final on Saturday 22 May, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), as requested by the Italian delegation, has conducted a thorough review of the facts, including checking all available footage.
‘A drug test was also voluntarily undertaken earlier today by the lead singer of the band Måneskin which has returned a negative result seen by the EBU.
‘No drug use took place in the Green Room and we consider the matter closed.
‘We are alarmed that inaccurate speculation leading to fake news has overshadowed the spirit and the outcome of the event and unfairly affected the band.
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‘We wish to congratulate Måneskin once again and wish them huge success. We look forward to working with our Italian member Rai on producing a spectacular Eurovision Song Contest in Italy next year.’
Reacting to the news, Damiano shared a screenshot of the tweet and simply added: ‘Voila’
The statement comes after the whole group joined Dan Walker and Louise Minchen on today’s BBC Breakfast where they explained what really happened on Saturday night.
Damiano said that he was inspecting a broken glass on the table and leant down towards it.
‘When I was cheering, I saw the glass broken and I was like, “My God what happened?”,’ he recalled.
He added: ‘I feel really offended, I think that these kind of things are outrageous. We’re young guys with huge passion for the music and this is actually overshadowing our win.
‘We will get drug tested to prove it’s all speculation.’
Fellow band member Victoria De Angelis added that the accusations ‘makes us upset’.
‘We’re trying to spread our music and a positive message and we’ve never had use of drugs,’ she told the programme. ‘We really don’t want to spread this kind of message.’
Backing up Damiano’s explanation that the reason he bent down was because he found glass, the EBU has previously said: ‘The band, their management and head of delegation have informed us that no drugs were present in the Green Room and explained that a glass was broken at their table and it was being cleared by the singer.
‘The EBU can confirm broken glass was found after an on site check. We are still looking at footage carefully and will update with further information in due course.’
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