Hugh Laurie considers Russian vodka boycott over ‘slab-faced goon’ Putin
Actor Hugh Laurie is considering boycotting Russian vodka over President Vladimir Putin’s recent anti-gay comments.
The House star vented his frustration at Putin on Twitter, joking that he would boycott Russian goods “if [he] could think of a single thing they made besides the rest of the world depressed.”
Yes, alright, Russian vodka is ok if you need to clean the oven. For drinking, it must henceforth be Polish.
— Hugh Laurie (@hughlaurie) January 18, 2014
After being reminded that Russia has a large vodka trade, he said that he would only drink Polish vodka from now on, but that “Russian vodka is okay if you need to clean the oven.”
He then retracted his comments, but urged Russians to stand up to “slab-faced goons” like Putin, who has recently sought to defend himself from allegations of homophobia.
Russia passed a law in June 2013 banning distribution of “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” among minors, which means gay people cannot express their views on LGBT rights to anyone under the age of 18.
Putin has sought to clarify that this should not impact on visitors to the Sochi Winter Olympics next month, as long as they ‘leave kids alone’.
A vodka boycott over the homophobic laws in Russia was joined by the G-A-Y last July and received support from some activists – although others viewed it as a counter-productive measure.
