Elton John actually received a phone call from Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, confirmed Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov after pranksters made a hoax phone call to the British musician pretending to be the Russian leader and having a conversation on gay rights, according to CNN.
Putin promised to meet the singer if their schedules concurred, said Peskov. "Putin called and said, 'I know you were called by pranksters; don't get offended by those guys, they are harmless, though this certainly does not justify their actions,'" Peskov said, according to The New York Times.
Peskov added: "Putin said that he knows what a popular performer Elton John is, and in the future, if their schedules coincide, he will be ready to meet with him and discuss any questions that are of interest."
The John-Putin saga started when the singer took to Instagram to announce that Putin had contacted him and he looked forward to having a meeting with the Russian President "face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia."
John had just returned from a trip lobbying for LGBT rights in Ukraine, where he said he wanted to meet Putin to talk about his "isolating and prejudiced" and "ridiculous" attitude towards gay people, according to The Guardian.
However, the Kremlin denied that Putin had called the singer last week, after which Vladimir "Vovan" Krasnov and Alexei "Lexus" Stolyarov, hoaxsters known to prank Russian and Ukrainian celebrities took responsibility for the phone call, admitting that they had made the phone call to John claiming to be Putin. A recording of the conversation was later aired on a popular Russian television show.
