Chiara Ferragni’s companies to pay $1.3 million to charity in antitrust settlement

ROME (Reuters) – Companies controlled by Italian fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni have agreed to pay at least 1.2 million euros ($1.3 million) to a children’s charity as part of a settlement in an antitrust case, the Italian competition authority (AGCM) said on Friday.

The regulator has launched an investigation into the sale of Ferragni-branded Easter eggs in 2021 and 2022 in packaging that could mislead buyers into believing they were supporting the children’s charity I Bambini delle Fate.

The regulator said Ferragni’s subsidiaries, Fenice and TBS Crew, would pay €1.2 million over three financial years to a charity that helps children with autism and disabilities.

Easter egg producer Cerealitalia will donate at least another €100,000 to the charity over the same period, the AGCM said, adding that the payments constituted binding commitments.

The regulator said that in the event of non-compliance, an antitrust investigation would be resumed and fines of up to €10 million would be imposed, and in the case of repeated violations, a business ban of up to 30 days.

Fenice and TBS Crew said in a statement quoted by Italian news agencies that in addition to agreeing to pay, they had decided to “clearly separate (their) commercial and charitable activities.”

Ferragni’s press office did not immediately respond to a message from Reuters.

Ferragni, who has almost 29 million Instagram followers, was fined almost €1.1 million by the AGCM last year in a similar case involving Ferragni’s Pandoro Christmas cakes, the packaging of which mentioned a children’s hospital.

Ferragni, which has faced a wave of negative publicity and severed partnerships with other companies, admitted to a “communication error,” and the Italian government, in direct response to the controversy, tightened rules on charitable donations.

(1 dollar = 0.9243 euros)

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini. Editing by David Goodman and Jane Merriman)