While a phone call between the musician and politician wouldn’t normally be news, the conversation is notable because Vladimir Putin was actually on the other end of the line this time.
Earlier this month, John posted on Instagram that Putin had reached out with him to discuss gay rights. John has long been an advocate for gay rights and wanted to talk to Putin about so-called “gay propaganda” laws, which have drawn huge criticism from human rights groups across the world.
As it turns out, the conversation was the work of two Russian pranksters. They came forward after Russian officials denied such a conversation had taken place. While John said the prank was “unfortunate” he said in a different Instagram post that he was glad it brought attention to gay rights.
Fast forward to Thursday, where Putin reportedly called John after hosting a meeting on agriculture in southern Russia. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, confirmed the call had happened and said Putin apologized for the pranksters, asking him not to be angry with them.
Putin went on to suggest, should John’s and his schedules allow it, to talk again on any issue that might come to John’s mind. If this meeting does happen, it would be monumental — 10 days ago, John openly called on Putin to meet with him.
“At least if I meet him and say, listen, come on, let’s have a cup of tea, let’s talk about this,” John said. “He may laugh behind my back when he shuts the door, and call me an absolute idiot, but at least I can have a conscience and say I’ve tried.
