Alessandra Mussolini has attacked the US actor Jim Carrey after he posted a satirical sketch of her grandfather the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on Twitter.

Mr Carrey’s drawing depicts the corpses of Mussolini and his mistress Claretta Petacci shortly after their execution by anti-fascist partisans in 1945.

After Mussolini's death the bodies of him and other fascists were hung with meat hooks from the girder of a petrol station in Milan.



If you’re wondering what fascism leads to, just ask Benito Mussolini and his mistress Claretta. pic.twitter.com/uc2wZl0YBu — Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) March 30, 2019

Ms Mussolini, the granddaughter of the dictator and an EU parliamentarian, responded angrily to the sketch.

“You are a b*******” she wrote in a one line reply.

You are a bastard — Alessandra Mussolini (@Ale_Mussolini_) March 31, 2019

The Italian politican then challenged Mr Carrey to illustrate a number of other historical events, such as the atomic bombing by US forces and the nation's civil rights struggles.



Hi @JimCarrey now draw this for us pic.twitter.com/tDZ9RB1WLm — Alessandra Mussolini (@Ale_Mussolini_) March 31, 2019

In October last year Ms Mussolini threatened to take legal action against those who defamed her grandfather on social media, in a move strongly condemned by Jewish groups in Italy.

Getty Images Europe

Alessandra Mussolini is the daughter of Romano Mussolini, the fourth son of the Italian dictator.

She began her career as an actress and model, guided by her aunt Sophia Loren, and starred in a dozen Italian films.

In 1992 she entered politics and has become embroiled in a string of controversies.

She quit the conservative National Alliance party in 2003, after leader Gianfranco Fini denounced fascism as an “absolute evil” and apologised for Italy’s involvement in World War Two during a visit in Israel.

Ms Mussolini said Mr Fini had attacked her name and family, although she does support the right for Israel to exist.

AFP

In 2006 she made derogatory comments about a transgender candidate and a year later she labelled all Romanians living in Italy "criminals".

Those remarks lead to the collapse of her far-right EU parliamentary group Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty after Romanian MPs withdrew in protest.

Ms Mussolini currently serves as an independent member of the European Parliament, but previously sat in the Italian Parliament as part of disgraced Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s People for Freedom coalition.