I must tell you, when I decided to interview Cicciolina, I was not sure what to expect.
The day of the confrontation arrived we called on the phone and immediately I discovered a side of Ilona Staller that I really did not expect. Sweet, comfortable, warm and familiar. She told me about her being by nature uninhibited, a lover of greenery and socially active with simple words.
Cicciolina for me is a good and pure soul. Here's what he told me:
Most people know you as Cicciolina. Who is Cicciolina and who is Ilona Staller?
When I arrived in Italy from Hungary I was Ilona Staller, my first name. The name Cicciolina was born in 1975, at the time I was participating in the Radio Luna radio program "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?" which also spoke of sexuality. I used to call everyone "cicciolini and ciccioline" and so ...
To answer your question Ilona Staller is my physical person, but my soul is Cicciolina.
Yours is a life worthy of a movie. A complex childhood, the arrival in Italy, a career in the world of pornography, music, politics. What is the common thread that has led you to branch your energies in so many directions?
Sometimes I go to Wikipedia to look for myself and when I read the label of a pornographic actress I have to say that I get nervous. I like to imagine being like a diamond with a thousand faces. Of course, I was a porn diva, but also a singer and a film actress.
I did television by participating in several reality shows around the world and I wrote books. I also work in the world of art, creating beautiful paintings.
Abroad they know me as an actress at 360 degrees and I don't understand why in Italy it should be recognized only for my career in the world of porn. In your opinion is this normal?
Let's talk about your career in the world of pornography. How do you decide to approach such a controversial world? Do you think that today there is less difficulty in claiming to work in this industry?
When I left Hungary I didn't know porn and I didn't even know the world of eroticism. When I arrived in Italy I worked for a year in Milan as a model, then I moved to Rome.
It was then that Riccardo Schicchi introduced me to Playman magazine. After the first audition I did a lot of photo shoots for them, setting a record in the history of that newspaper.
At the time Schicchi, he photographed me everywhere and always naked so gradually I learned about pornography, I found it funny and I liked it: I love sex!
I do not have a good opinion of those who regret having worked in porn, there is nothing to regret, it is a job just like any other.
Fortunately, I must say that today there is less prejudice about it, because porn is much more widespread and accessible to everyone.
What are the personal battles you have had to fight, the prejudices you have had to dispel about yourself because of your work as a porn star?
I had some problems around the end of the 70s, when I was doing musical performances in clubs and theaters, my impresario Bibi Ballandi made me perform in the most chic places in Italy.
I had a huge audience, of any age, but I found it difficult to relate to the female part. All the spectators saw me as a man eater and consequently feared me.
So I got into the habit of chatting with them at the end of the evening. I wanted to empathize with them and to explain to them that for me those performances were purely work.
Compared to your romantic relationships or the relationship with your son, has being a porn actress ever represented a limit?
During the years in which I worked in the world of porn I had no romantic relationships (if we do not consider my cohabitation with Schicchi), so I have never had problems of this kind.
With my son, on the other hand, I had some difficulties. At the age of 8 he learned about my background as a porn star through his school friends. I had not yet told him about this because I would have liked to wait for his greater maturity.
His friends' parents, on the other hand, have seen fit to inform their children and at that age we know very well that children tell each other everything.
Then there was the story of the horse (!?) Referring to the film "Cicciolina number one", which is absolutely not true. My son told me he looked at it to make sure it wasn't true.
Today my son, Ludwig Maximillian Koons, is a highly regarded contemporary artist around the world.
How did you manage to separate your real sex life from your work life? Has your profession ever been a problem for your partners?
During both of my marriages I didn't work in porn. At the time I was living with Riccardo Schicchi and we never got married: the cicciolini would have been very jealous!
The world of porn has changed dramatically in recent years. What are the main changes you notice since your time?
I have to tell you the truth, I don't pay much attention to porn anymore so I can't judge the current one.
Last year I received an award from PornHub for my career and this is where all my recent experience about it ends :)
I have experienced porn and done it. I have tried everything and for this reason I don't have many curiosities.
There is still a lot of inhibition with respect to the use of pornography. We could say that everyone uses it, but few would admit it. Why do you think?
Ours is a very bigoted society. I don't think it can change much.
In recent years there has been talk of porn dedicated to women, for example that of director Erika Lust. What do you think about it? Is it correct to consider a genre of porn with more "sentimental" storytelling bases exclusively dedicated to women?
I don't know the director Erika Lust honestly, but I believe that the stimulation of the imagination does not depend on the genre, but on the tastes of the individual person.
For example, I love to see scenes of male homosexual sex, just as I hate to see scenes in which sex is added to violence.
Who are you today, Ilona or Cicciolina?
I’m both, but I love Cicciolina!
At the end of the chat Cicciolina asked me to make an appeal and I don't want to escape.
I turn to the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden (if you ever have the opportunity to read us):
I ask you to remove Ilona Staller's name from your country's blacklist and allow her to return to the US as soon as possible.
Images: courtesy of Ilona Staller
.jpg)