Elton John, Putin and prankers. What it was

Short retelling of a rather crazy story

Russian President Vladimir Putin called British musician Elton John and discussed with him the rights of homosexuals - such news recently appeared in media around the world. The performer himself was the source of information - no one checked this information. It soon became clear that Putin Elton John did not call, but the prankers called. Medusa briefly tells this crazy story.

On September 15, the British performer Elton John on his Instagram, consisting mainly of photographs with other celebrities, unexpectedly published a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The signature said that a telephone conversation was held between them. What exactly was discussed, Sir Elton did not specify, but noted that he would like to meet with the president and discuss with him the rights of homosexuals in Russia. Shortly before that, Elton John went to Ukraine, where he talked with President Peter Poroshenko and also expressed a desire to meet with Putin. Prior to this, Elton John has repeatedly criticized the Russian law on gay propaganda, including from the scenes of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

On the same day, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov denied the fact of the conversation. “I responsibly declare to you that he did not say on the phone with Sir Elton John,” Peskov said. The representative of Putin noted that in general the president is ready to talk with the musician and explain his position to him. In the meantime, all the world media reported the call. Nobody called him into question-after all, Elton John himself was the source. The contractor did not ask for no additional comments.

On September 16, it turned out that there was still no call. The prankers - jokers who play people on the phone - admitted that they called Elton John. Vladimir Kuznetsov (known on the Internet as Pranker Vovan and at one time registered with Lifenews thanks to the calls to the participants in the Ukrainian conflict) and Alexei Stolyarov said that they called Elton John and asked him a meeting with the President of Ukraine Peter Poroshenko. They did not reveal other details of the conversation, as well as they did not report where they got the phone of the British musician.

The prankers were called on the air of Channel One in the evening program of Ivan Urgant. The program included the audio recording of part of the conversation with Elton John. It turned out that Vladimir Kuznetsov was for Putin (he spoke in Russian), and Stolyarov acted as a spokesman and translator (he spoke in broken English). As follows from the recording of the conversation, Elton John in a conversation said that he intends to continue to fight for the rights of homosexuals and this was what his conversation with Peter Poroshenko was dedicated.

After it became known that the conversation was a draw, Elton John published a new photo on Instagram - two young people, one of whom broke his nose. In the signature, he said: “The draws are funny. Homophobia is never funny. I love Russia, and my proposal to President Putin to discuss the rights of LGBT remains in force. I will always be on the side of those who are subjected to humiliation and discrimination. If this deplorable incident helped to draw attention to such a burning issue - well, in this case I am glad that they played me. ”