Apparently someone’s been trolling Elton John.
The singer recently claimed to have received a phone call from Russian president Vladimir Putin, in which they discussed gay rights.
He posted about the call on his Instagram, claiming the pair had made plans to meet in person to discuss the issues further.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said no conversation happened, and hinted it might have been a hoax, the BBC reports.
Peskov said:
I don’t know [what happened] but President Putin did not speak to Elton John and most importantly we didn’t receive any proposals to meet.
If the president does get such a signal from Elton John, the president has always been open to discuss any… human rights problems, any issues. He is always ready to clarify the real situation.
Russia has been criticised for its incredibly outdated stance on gay rights. In 2013 they passed a bill that means anyone caught providing information on homosexuality to people under 18 would be prosecuted. Human Rights Watch has also highlighted the country’s failure to prevent and prosecute homophobic violence.
So, it sounds like someone, somewhere, has been phoning Sir Elton John and putting on a Russian accent.
