Elton John: “Happy to be Pranked” by Russian Comedians

“Pranks are amusing . Homophobia, however is never amusing “, he wrote beside a photo of a young man with a bloodied nose.

John had recently made a public offer to talk with the Russian leader after meeting with Ukraine’s president Petro Poroshenko at a conference to lobby him about LGBT rights. It is a great privilege to be able to speak to one of the most influential people in the world.

“He [Elton John] said: “Thank you, you’ve made my day”.

At the weekend, Sir Elton, who has two sons with husband David Furnish, condemned the Russian president’s “ridiculous” stance on gay rights, which saw a law passed banning homosexual “propaganda” among children in June 2013. He then tells the fake president he’s “extremely honoured” to be speaking to him. Many initially speculated the whole thing was a hoax, and now, two well-known Russian pranksters, Alexei Stolyarov and Vladimir Krasnov, have claimed responsibility for the call.

Sir Elton also says he would like to attend a Pride rally in Moscow during his visit.

Since Instagram is basically a top news source these days, much attention has been given to a recent post from Elton John’s account thanking Vladimir Putin for reaching out to the singer to discuss LGBTQ equality.

“He heard that you wanted to talk to him about important problems of the Russian life”, a translator told JOHN on what was presented as a phone call from a PUTIN aide, to which JOHN responded, “That is incredible…”

The Russian pranksters who impersonated President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call with British musician Sir Elton John have released a recording of the conversation.

“But Elton John turned out to have been eagerly awaiting the call and so he immediately believed in the reality of the conversation with the people we were pretending to be”.

“I think the violence toward LGBT people-they don’t feel safe-but this something I don’t really want to talk about over the phone”, John told them.

On Monday, John posted an elated message on his Instagram, saying he’d had a successful chat with Putin and would soon be meeting him face-to-face.