Paparazzi King to drop globally on 9 January.Fabrizio Corona, the controversial Italian media personality who has been central to some of Italy's most lurid celebrity scandals, is the subject of a new five-part docuseries on Netflix.Paparazzi King offers a raw look at the life of Corona, who has dominated Italian tabloids for decades and was jailed several times for extortion and blackmail. The series explores the duality of a man who is viewed by some as a "communications genius" and by others as a "shameless manipulator." Although he followed his journalist father Vittorio Corona into the world of media, Fabrizio took a very different path, turning gossip into a weapon of power and money.  Together with controversial showbiz figure Lele Mora, Corona built an empire based on the commercialisation of other people's private lives. "I have an idea of the world in which goodness doesn't exist. I don't believe in anything", Corona says directly into the camera in the trailer for the series. He also goes on to say: "I was a man of enormous power, because I held everyone's lives in my hands." A former partner at Corona's photographic agency in Milan, Corona was the central figure in a series of investigations into the 2007 extortion scandal known as Vallettopoli. Politicians, celebrities and socialites were photographed in potentially embarrassing situations - often sexual in nature - and were blackmailed into paying to ensure the photos were not made public. Netflix says the docuseries “spans the Berlusconi era, the rise of social media and the contradictions of Italian justice, with an unfiltered story that is not intended to be a biography of the ‘King of Paparazzi,’ but a portrait of a country that, from the 1990s to today, has ceased to distinguish between reality and reality TV.” True to form, the series' release coincides with fresh real-life drama. Corona used his digital platforms last month to level bombshell sexual misconduct allegations against Italian Big Brother TV host Alfonso Signorini, backing up his claims with alleged private text messages and blurred images. The Big Brother host, who has voluntarily stepped down from his role pending the findings of an investigation, denies any wrongdoing and has filed multiple lawsuits for defamation against Corona.   Photo credit: DELBO ANDREA / Shutterstock.com.

Fabrizio Corona, the controversial Italian media personality who has been central to some of Italy's most lurid celebrity scandals, is the subject of a new five-part docuseries on Netflix. Paparazzi King offers a raw look at the life of Corona, who has dominated Italian tabloids for decades and was jailed several times for extortion and blackmail. The series explores the duality of a man who is viewed by some as a "communications genius" and by others as a "shameless manipulator." Although he followed his journalist father Vittorio Corona into the world of media, Fabrizio took a very different path, turning gossip into a weapon of power and money.  Together with controversial showbiz figure Lele Mora, Corona built an empire based on the commercialisation of other people's private lives. "I have an idea of the world in which goodness doesn't exist. I don't believe in anything", Corona says directly into the camera in the trailer for the series. He also goes on to say: "I was a man of enormous power, because I held everyone's lives in my hands." A former partner at Corona's photographic agency in Milan, Corona was the central figure in a series of investigations into the 2007 extortion scandal known as Vallettopoli. Politicians, celebrities and socialites were photographed in potentially embarrassing situations - often sexual in nature - and were blackmailed into paying to ensure the photos were not made public. Netflix says the docuseries “spans the Berlusconi era, the rise of social media and the contradictions of Italian justice, with an unfiltered story that is not intended to be a biography of the ‘King of Paparazzi,’ but a portrait of a country that, from the 1990s to today, has ceased to distinguish between reality and reality TV.” True to form, the series' release coincides with fresh real-life drama. Corona used his digital platforms last month to level bombshell sexual misconduct allegations against Italian Big Brother TV host Alfonso Signorini, backing up his claims with alleged private text messages and blurred images. The Big Brother host, who has voluntarily stepped down from his role pending the findings of an investigation, denies any wrongdoing and has filed multiple lawsuits for defamation against Corona.