In November 2012 he accepted an offer from newly elected Sicilian president Rosario Crocetta to become the new Regional Minister for Cultural Heritage.
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Odifreddi has even been sued by Zichichi for defamation for having pointed out the numerous contradictions in his writings in an article entitled "Zichicche" (a portmanteau word from "Zichichi" and the Italian "chicche", meaning "interesting bits"), which later became a book consisting of a collection of writings about Zichichi by various people.