Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's joke about the newly-elected Barack Obama being "young, handsome and sun-tanned" hangs over him on his first visit to Washington since the election.
The gag was widely regarded as offensive. Hundreds of Italians wrote to the New York Times to apologise.
Before boarding his flight on Sunday, Mr Berlusconi made a mischievous reference to the scandal, saying that he was heading for Washington "handsome and tanned" himself.
His own response to the wave of criticism that greeted his comment in November was incomprehension: "How can you take such a great compliment negatively?"
So, is there any unease in Italy that the prime minister will offend his host in Washington?
Polarised society
Some Italians are "extremely concerned" says James Walston, professor of international relations at the American University in Rome - but a roughly equal number are quite relaxed about the prime minister's occasional lapses into political incorrectness.
"He always does it, whatever his minders try and do - they cannot control him when he starts ad-libbing, and he loves it.
"But a lot of his supporters think it's great. They thought the 'sun-tan' remark was either funny, or quite appropriate.
"A week ago he said Milan was an 'African town' just because there are a lot of non-white faces there. His supporters in [the Berlusconi party] Forza Italia thought that was fun.
"It just shows how polarised Italian society is."
Beppe Severgnini, columnist for Corriere della Sera and author of La Bella Figura - A Field Guide to the Italian Mind, thinks the risk of a PR disaster in Washington is low.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8097988.stm
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