Sir Elton John was tricked by two pranksters to believe that he was speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss about gay rights in the country. He even agreed to attend a gay pride parade in Moscow.
The 68-year-old singer and LGBT campaigner became a victim of a prank played by Russian TV presenters Vladimir Krasnov and Alexei Stolyarov on Wednesday with one posing as Putin, speaking in Russian, and the other as an interpreter.
The "Are You Ready for Love" singer even took to his Instagram account to thank Putin after the hoax conversation.
"Thank-you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today. I look to forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia," he wrote.
The veteran singer said during the conversation that he was concerned on violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and would love to discuss about it with Putin.
"I would welcome [dialogue] because things get done better when you see somebody and you meet them. If both our offices can find a convenient date where we can convene and have a really wonderful discussion ... that would be a miracle. It would be fantastic, and it would be a dream come true," The Guardian quoted the singer as saying in the conversation.
The singer, who had earlier expressed his willingness to meet Putin over gay rights in Russia, said during the conversation that he would "come to Gay Pride in Moscow" if he wanted him to.
However, the conversation turned out to be just a prank with Kremlin denying any such conversation with Sir Elton John.
Vladimir Krasnov who impersonated Putin, and Alexei Stolyarov who posed as the president's spokesman and interpreted the telephonic conversation, admitted that they were behind the prank.
