Russian TV Prank Guys Pretended to Be Putin and Called Elton John for Some Reason

From the September issue of VICE: The Eastern European Gay Rights Movement Is Struggling to Be More Than a Western Cause

Three days ago, noted gay singer and composer Elton John instagrammed a picture of Russian President Vladamir Putin along with the following message:

An LGBT summit between Putin and Elton John? That would be great! Except no, Putin never called Elton John to discuss LGBT rights in Russia—some Russian prankster guys did. For some unknown reason.

Elton John would have wanted to speak to the real Putin because in Russia being gay was made borderline illegal in 2013 by a notorious propaganda law that treats the whole topic of homosexuality like explicit material that children must be protected from. That includes any public acknowledgement that one is gay, and thus, forces anyone with same sex attraction to treat their love life like a shameful secret, or risk being arrested.

So you can see why it would be a real rib-tickler for a Russian pseudo-celebrity named Vovan to give a famous gay rights activist a ring, and pretend to be the head of the country who helped create that law, seemingly implying that he was starting to have some kind of change of heart.

"I love Russia," John said during the polite phone call that ensued, adding, "It's been part of my life since 1979, and I just want to make the situation better if I can." Shortly afterwards, John posted his optimistic Instagram message.

The conversation mostly consisted of Vovan and his "translator" speaking Russian, and then relaying brief, earnest-sounding questions about a possible future meeting to John, who gave earnest replies. If there are any overt gags, they're lost in translation.

The next day, the Kremlin denied having spoken to Elton John. Putin's representative did raise the possibility of a meeting though, writing, "I don't doubt that if there is such a request, the president will be ready to meet with Elton John among others to give answers to all the questions that he might ask." Vovan then put the prank on YouTube for the public's listening pleasure:

If you thought that was funny, we recommend more hilarity from The Jerky Boys. If you like slightly more sophistication in your prank calls, that's out there too.

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