Livia Giuggioli, a sustainable fashion campaigner and former wife of actor Colin Firth, has shredded her honorary MBE certificate in protest over Donald Trump's state visit to the UK. In an Instagram video posted on Wednesday, the Italian activist said she was returning the medal to UK authorities.
Giuggioli, who received the honorary award in 2019 for services to sustainable fashion, said she could not reconcile being part of the British empire after Trump's visit. She described the US president's rhetoric as 'poisonous' and criticised the UK for appeasing someone who stands for 'the obliteration of the natural world and the most vulnerable people on Earth'.
The film producer also condemned Trump's speech to the UN general assembly on Tuesday. In a post accompanying the video, she wrote: 'As I write this, we see that horrible excuse of a human (called Trump) in full flow at the UN general assembly, his poisonous rethoric [sic] amplified and legitimised.'
Giuggioli said she had accepted the MBE on behalf of garment workers, despite her opposition to the 'toxic' remnants of the British empire. She praised King Charles for his work on social and environmental justice but added that last week's display showed 'nothing of those values' and was a 'grotesque pantomime'.
