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How a prank call may lead to a Vladimir Putin and Elton John date

US NEWS PEPFAR-KERRY 2 ABA
Sir Elton John discusses PEPFAR and the work of the Elton John AIDS Foundation with Secretary of State John Kerry at the Department of State on Oct. 24, 2014, in Washington, D.C.

Almost a decade ago, Kanye West infamously said that "George Bush doesn't care about black people." What happened as a result of that accusation? Nothing. 

In the era of Kanye West, it’s easy to think of celebrity activists as people who care more about drawing attention to themselves than they do about actually solving problems.

In spite of this trend, other celebrities, Elton John in this case, are more willing to use their power and influence in order to help promote humanitarian causes. The impressive level of grace and diplomacy with which Elton John handles political discourse should be the model for how celebrities handle their socially conscious interactions.

In one of the most high-profile prank calls in the history of the telephone, “Russian celebrity prankster” Vladimir Krasnov called Elton John while pretending to be the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In the beginning of the conversation, John and the prank caller spoke to one another with both seriousness and civility. John sounded strangely similar to yet far more articulate than Kanye when he told the prankster he thought was Putin’s interpreter, “I'm a musician and a philanthropic person and a humanitarian. I'm not a politician but I would love to sit down with the president and discuss things face to face, because I think we can solve many issues together.” 

The jokester went on to criticize John for being too "political" in his promotion of LGBT acceptance. Knowing what an eccentric, short-tempered person Elton John is, I was pleasantly surprised by how well he kept his cool.

John justified his political activity, and then responded with discretion and class.

"You can tell the president that I've loved Russia since 1979 when I first came there," he said. "And I love Russian people very dearly and I love the country.”

He could have just as easily said that he thinks Putin is a terrible leader and a worse human being for allowing so much injustice against the LGBT community to exist in Russia, but he knew that doing so would have made it improbable that Putin would take his suggestions to heart.  

The thing that I admire about the pop star’s performance — even more than the respect he showed toward "Putin" — was how he was able to maintain his cordiality without sacrificing any honesty or focus on his goals. When the musician was asked what the most important LGBT problem in Russia was, he answered, “Well, I think the violence towards LGBT people. They don't feel safe.”

Midway through the conversation, John decided that the phone call with “Putin" wasn’t enough for him to make a real impact, so he suggested that they meet in person "if both of our offices can find a convenient date where we can convene and have a real wonderful discussion that would be a miracle and that would be fantastic. And it will be a dream come true.”

The day after the exchange, the Kremlin made a statement claiming that Putin never had the conversation with the John. In response to the confusion, the real Vladimir Putin called John and agreed to meet with him “if their schedules coincided.”

I believe that Putin's willingness to meet with John is the direct result of the subtlety the musician demonstrated during the fake call. Had he pulled a Kanye West and said "You don't care about gay people," he never would've been given the opportunity to meet with Putin and potentially have a serious influence on LGBT life in Russia.  


Reach the columnist at cmfitzpa@asu.edu or follow @CodyFitzStories on Twitter.

Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.

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