Did The Eurovision Winner Really Snort Coke Off A Table While On Live TV?
Footage of the curious moment went viral following the band's win on the weekend.
Eurovision has wrapped up for yet another year, with Italian band Måneskin taking out the glittering trophy with their glam rock track ‘Zitti E Buoni’.
But it wouldn’t have been Eurovision without some bizarre controversy, and this year’s contest wrap-up was dominated by the rumours that Måneskin lead singer Damiano David had snorted a line of a ~substance~ off a table in the green room during the live broadcast. The footage went wild online, and you can see why:
Did someone just do a line live on #Eurovision telly !!? pic.twitter.com/d0gLkIbsZp
— Glen Scott QBE (@glenrules) May 22, 2021
In the band’s press conference immediately after their win, the singer vehemently denied that he was snorting drugs — instead insisting he was bending down to look at a broken glass at his feet. “Thomas [guitarist] broke a glass … I don’t use drugs, please guys, do not say that,” he told reporters. “Don’t say that really. No cocaine please, do not say that.”
The band followed it up with a statement on their Instagram stories, once again denying they had casually racked a line on live TV.
Rock’n’roll has always been a sober pursuit, after all.
The European Broadcasting Union (which runs Eurovision) was dragged into the debacle and released a statement saying it was looking into it. David would undertake a voluntary drug test, and they also confirmed that broken glass was actually found near the table, backing up the band’s story.
“We are aware of the speculation surrounding the video clip of the Italian winners of the Eurovision Song Contest in the Green Room last night,” the EBU wrote. “The band have strongly refuted the allegations of drug use and the singer in question will take a voluntary drug test after arriving home. This was requested by them last night but could not be immediately organized by the EBU.
“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.”
Speculation ran rampant — on TikTok, someone even analysed the footage, arguing that the placement of the bowls and glasses on the table confirmed that he couldn’t have actually been that close to the table at all:
Today, the EBU released another statement: David had returned a negative drug test, and the EBU officially considered the matter “closed”.
“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,” the statement read. “No drug use took place in the Green Room and we consider the matter closed.”
Additionally, they expressed “alarm” that the speculation over the whole incident had “overshadowed the spirit” of the event and affected the band.
So there ends Eurovision’s latest controversy — and considering that back in 1974 the contest accidentally sparked a revolution in Portugal, this one seems fairly small fry.