Prankster who fooled Sir Elton John to host his own show on Russian TV
The prankster who fooled Sir Elton John is reportedly getting his own show on Russian TV.
The veteran singer fell victim to a hoax after he asked President Putin to meet with him to discuss his country’s ‘gay propaganda’ law and persecution of LGBT people.
Sir Elton later claimed he had spoken on the phone to Putin – but it later emerged the call was a hoax masterminded by Vladimir Krasnov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as ‘Vova and Lexus’, who released the call in full.
Despite attracting the ire of the Kremlin press office, Mail Online reports that Krasnov has now secured his own Russian TV show.
Krasnov announced: “Now everything is official, I will host a show on one of the [Russian] federal channels.
“Of course, there are some restrictions coming with the channel, but in case we can’t include it in the show, it does not mean that we can’t release it online.”
In the call, ‘Putin’ asks the singer whether he would attend a Pride rally in Moscow, but he does not twig the call is a joke, saying: “Thank you. You made my day. This day, and the conversation was the most wonderful and beautiful in my life.”
However, Sir Elton isn’t going to let the prank dissuade him from arguing for LGBT rights.
He wrote after the ruse was exposed: “Pranks are funny. Homophobia, however is never funny.
“I love Russia and my offer to talk to President Putin about LGBT rights still stands. I will always stand up for those that are being degraded and discriminated against.
“If this unfortunate incident has helped push this vital issue back into the spotlight, then I am happy to be pranked on this occasion.”
The real President Putin is still yet to respond to the singer.
Listen to the whole 11 minute call below:
