They will tell them that the world is wonderful, that people go to programs with the intention of doing good and entertaining the public and that Genoveva Casanova suffered the beatings that come with participating in The Challenge to escape from scandal and pressure and to have fun. There may be some truth to that. But let’s not be naive. It is true that the Mexican had already received the call from the talent produced by Pablo Motos before walking through Madrid with him “Great Dane” but she had always said no.
Genoveva also visited other spaces such as the Celebrity Masterchef because, long before her scenes with her husband, Mary Donaldson, She was already famous as the daughter-in-law or ex-daughter-in-law of the Duchess of Alba, woman of Cayetano Martínez de Irujo, father of her children, and girlfriend of the former minister José María Michavila or a son of Vargas Llosa, whom he accompanied to receive the Nobel Prize in his day.
But here we are talking (as almost always) about audiences and money. That is, money. In the bazaar of vanities that feeds television adventures, the signing of Genoveva Casanova for The Challenge It was not a simple act of persuasion, but a treaty of high diplomacy managed with the immense skill and effectiveness of a professional like Susana Uribarri, master in the art of turning scandals into gold, be it Sofía Suescun’s fight with her mother, Íñigo Onieva’s antlers to Tamara Falcó, or any of the adventures of her friend Ana Obregón, with whom she once shared a boyfriend.
It was Susana Uribarri, the daughter of the best presenter that Eurovision ever had, the ex of that solid Pole called Darek who was also with Ana Obregón, who carried out the operation with the precision of a violinist playing a Bach fugue. The price, high from the beginning, skyrocketed after the photos of Genoveva walking with Frederick of Denmark in a choreography that seemed orchestrated by the angels of gossip.
In the world of exclusives, images have a strange alchemy: they turn intimacy into morbidity and morbidity into a mine of banknotes. The media hype over that dinner with the then European prince, now head of state, raised Genoveva’s cachet like the foam of a champagne that never ends being uncorked. Uribarri understood that the moment to negotiate was that precise moment when the entire world was talking about her, for better or worse. The figures that were finally settled for his participation in the program were much higher than those that were handled before the scandal. Genoveva, who had said no in the first invitations and in the first figures, allowed herself to be guided with the same discretion with which she had crossed aristocratic life. She is used to palace intrigues and the offices of those in charge on television are after all entertainment palaces.
On the set of El Desafío, the Mexican found something similar to a refuge. There were no paparazzi hiding behind the spotlights or questions to stab his delicate tranquility. She arrived wrapped in blankets and, according to some witnesses, even hidden in the trunk of a van with tinted windows, like a diva escaped from her own fairy tale. But inside the studio, far from the flashes, she got rid of her fears and adopted a surprisingly light attitude, like someone who has decided to forget the ghosts that haunt her to surrender to the novelty of a physical and emotional challenge. Jorge Salvador, producer of the program, and legendary creator of the no less legendary Crónicas Marcianas by Javier Sardá, told us. He must still know something morbid.
It is not necessary for Genoveva to tell us about Federico or even about Greenland. There is a kind of poetic justice just watching her take on challenges like balancing act or acrobatic cloths. It was not difficult to imagine Genevieve, after a year in which she had gone from the gardens of nobility to the storm of scandal, walking a tightrope that seemed a metaphor for her life. That summer of 2023, a pulmonary infarction took her to the hospital for eight days, but here she was, facing each test as if each leap, each effort, were a declaration of independence in the face of social judgment.
He was not present at the press conference prior to the premiere. Genoveva preferred that her speech not be verbal, but gestural, like the one she recorded in a final performance for her own social networks, to the rhythm of This Is Me, the anthem from The Greatest Showman, which seemed directed at all those who had prejudged her. . If I had learned anything in the last year it was to transform disasters into opportunities.
By contract, she was obliged to visit El Hormiguero. There, in TRancas y Barrancas, he faced the well-calibrated questions of his boss, Pablo Motos. It was another chapter of the television ritual that every contestant must face, even if it was with a smile on their lips and a soul full of reservations. But outside of sets, Genoveva doesn’t want to know anything about the world of lights and flashes. While the lawsuit against Mediaset brought forward by Informalia continues, its future is a territory in which questions about Frederick of Denmark are blurred and life continues as another challenge in which to learn to maintain balance. Let’s not forget that Genoveva is suing the rival Antena 3 network, where we will see her starting this Friday. Besides, he already sued Readings. Perhaps Genoveva Casanova’s true challenge is not to overcome physical tests, but to find the art of living at peace with herself, in that place where fame and privacy are parallel lines that never end up meeting.
Genoveva’s lawsuit against the rival network: the one that competes with the one that has signed her
As we reported last November, the court of first instance number 16 of Madrid has admitted the lawsuit filed by Genoveva Casanova against Alessandro Lequio, Mediaset and Unicorn Content, the production company of Ana Rosa Quintana, in response to the dissemination of comments and content broadcast in various programs of the audiovisual group after her photographs in Madrid with Federico from Denmark and which, according to the plaintiff, damaged her image and her advertising potential and capacity. According to the lawsuit to which Informalia had access, Casanova argues that she is not a public figure, that she has never traded on her private life and that these comments, issued in let’s see and picked up by other spaces in the chain, have generated money for the defendants and undermined their professional opportunities.
The controversy arises from the publication of Casanova’s images with Frederick of Denmark, then prince and now monarch, in the magazine Readings more than a year ago. Those surprising scenes caused considerable media coverage, not only in Spain, but also in Denmark, given the status of the prince and the expectation over the private life of the Mexican, ex-wife of Cayetano Martínez de Irujo and whose relations with the former minister José María Michavila o Gonzalo Vargas Llosa They were also the object of desire of the so-called social chronicle.
In his argument, Genoveva Casanova maintains that the comments broadcast on Mediaset programs directly affected his public image and the market’s perception of his value as a public figure, which in turn translated into an alleged economic loss. According to Casanova’s defense, this damage amounts to something more than 400.000 euros on the one hand, a figure with which they estimate the damage to their potential advertising income, representations and contracts, and around 800,000 more to Mediaset for the estimated earnings in the programs where Genoveva was discussed.
However, industry sources point out that the media impact of these photographs meant, contrary to what was stated in the lawsuit, a significant increase in the popularity of Casanova at the time, which would have raised its cachet. “Genoveva Casanova became a prominent figure in social life and was highly sought after for interviews and appearances at events”comments a source related to the media environment. He adds that Casanova, before going through El Desafío, had already received invitations to participate in public programs and events, such as sponsored parties where people go with a cache, that is, charging to attend and pose in a Photocall, “but now with a cache elderly”. Over the years, Casanova has maintained a relevant profile in Spanish social life, initially due to his marriage to Cayetano Martínez de Irujo, member of one of the most recognized aristocratic families in Spain. After their separation, Casanova has continued to be the subject of media interest, not only for his personal relationships with public figures, but also for his participation in solidarity and other events.
According to our sources, it is Cayetano Martínez de Irujo who assumes all or part of his ex-wife’s defense fees. The lawsuit is for violation of the rights to honor and privacy. Genoveva considers that her fundamental rights to Honor and Privacy have been violated in relation to what she considers “illegitimate interference” allegedly committed by the defendants, through the television program Let’s see, presented by Joaquín Prat. Genoveva Casanova maintains in her lawsuit that she “He does not belong and has never belonged to the sector of public figures who trade with their personal lives.” In her writing, she recalls that she “has developed her professional work in private companies, non-governmental organizations and foundations.” In the text of the lawsuit, the Mexican assures that she “writes the column Appointment with art in the magazine Woman Today”, and that he has developed “facets such as photography, modeling, acting, and also writing, publishing his own book “The Crying of Elephants”.
MasterChef Celebritiy, Mask Singer… And now The challenge…
Regarding television appearances, the lawsuit itself acknowledges that Casanova “has occasionally appeared in interviews or television programs,” but clarifies that “always with the aim of promoting their professional or humanitarian projects”, ignoring, for example, their lucrative participation in The Challenge, a contract that, according to several sources consulted, was closed after the photo scandal, when Genoveva’s popularity was at its highest. In fact, the program produced by Pablo Motos which begins to air this Friday, will convert in a couple of months to the friend of Frederick of Denmark in one of the stars of the prime time of the most watched chain in Spain, along with celebrities as Victoria Federica Marichalar.
Genoveva has also participated in the program MasterChef Celebritiy (with famous people, by definition) on Spanish Television, broadcast in 2023, and also in the program Mask Singerfrom Antena 3, broadcast at the end of 2020. He has also given reports to the magazine Hello and it is not surprising because her relationships, in addition to being Cayetano’s wife, have been with personalities such as the former Minister of Justice José María Michavila or one of the children of Vargas Llosa. but be photographed with Mary Donaldson’s husband having dinner and walking around Madrid It made her, obviously, one of the most famous people, even more than before, and without a doubt the curiosity of seeing her in a contest is a draw for the audience, which, in turn, increases her cachet. Whatever they say. Sources close to the producer of Ana Rosa Quintanaone of the defendants, assure that they are calm because they consider that Genoveva has been respected at all times and that she is certainly a public figure and that talking about her in gatherings “is framed,” according to the sources consulted, “in the exercise of freedom of expression, since nothing is assured”.
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