You may have seen something by now about the call that was heard around the world — no, not that call. We’re talking about the phone call that Elton John received from some convincing pranksters. Said pranksters managed to hoodwink Elton into believing he was getting a call from Vladimir Putin. John was so convinced that he even thanked the Russian president on his instagram account.
https://instagram.com/p/7nZYS2gGUW/
Of course, later when the pranksters couldn’t bear to keep silent about the in-depth gag, Sir Elton had to print a retraction. As he does most things, it was done humbly. He was able to use the experience to shed a wider light on his plight for the LGBT community. The question begs to be asked, however: why in the world did John think Putin would be dialing him up on the fly?
According to USA Today , Elton thought the Russian president was calling in part because of comments he made recently about the country’s anti-gay laws and policies. To be sure, Russia was being criticized by the openly gay LGBT advocate. The BBC in London quoted him as saying that he wanted to meet face to face to discuss what he called ridiculous ideas regarding the gay community and their lifestyle.
As funny as the hoax may have seemed and as quickly as Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, announced the truth of the matter, both parties welcomed a real phone call and a sit down to discuss any issues that they may have. A curious situation, but it was one that apparently both took to heart. The Russian Embassy in the U.K. took to Twitter today to announce that the real heart to heart did, in fact, happen. Only a week later the Russian President reached out.
President Putin has spoken to @eltonjohndotcom http://t.co/1xzC4G0gJo pic.twitter.com/m2SC6gfAyZ
— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) September 24, 2015
Reactions were varied among the public at large. Some were intrigued and curious.
#Putin calls #EltonJohn – this time for real. Now that would have been an interesting call http://t.co/SSFwiSRVIH
— Alvin Douglas (@ial) September 24, 2015
While others seemed to be confused and maybe awed.
And in other news, #Putin called #eltonjohn . I kid you not. http://t.co/0X7qlK1dlh
— Birgit Schmeitzner (@BSchmeitzner) September 24, 2015
Then there were others that thought the situation to be going in the wrong direction.
What did Sir John and Putin actually talk about? Although Elton has yet to take to his social media accounts to discuss it (maybe erring on the side of caution), the Guardian was able to give a very brief account of their conversation. Putin apparently apologized to John for the behavior of the famous Russian pranksters, but also encouraged him not to be offended. “They’re harmless, but that of course doesn’t excuse them,” were Putin’s words according to his spokesman.
Peskov, in closing, said that if they were available at a mutually agreeable time, Putin is more than willing to sit down mano e mano to go over any questions the rocket man has.
Who knew that Elton John would have cause to thank the pranksters that humbled him so quickly?
Now it’s your turn to weigh in. Is this something deserving of a sit down between the two, or does Putin (or Elton) have bigger fish to fry?
[Image credit to Alexandre Loureiro/Getty Images]