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Final month, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to honor Steven Seagal with the Order of Friendship.
The award, which was established by former President Boris Yeltsin, was offered to the 70-year-old former motion star for his “nice contribution to the event of worldwide cultural and humanitarian cooperation.”
Putin’s resolution to bestow Seagal with the state honor marked the newest growth of their weird 20-year friendship. It additionally served to symbolically recompense Seagal for greater than a decade of service as a number one propagandist for the Kremlin.
Putin and Seagal first met in 2003, when the actor was a visitor on the Moscow Movie Pageant. In the course of the multi-day occasion, Seagal seemingly expressed his deep respect and admiration for the president, which helped spark their ongoing friendship. Naturally, the 2 males—each allegedly blackbelts in Japanese martial arts—bonded notably properly by means of a shared curiosity in fight sports activities.
Over time, Seagal continued to return to Russia to satisfy with Putin, who appeared eager to affiliate with the retired martial artist as a part of his cult of persona—a macho persona long-established from tv stunts, topless photoshoots, and choreographed public adulation—he propagated all through Russia.
On one event in 2013, Putin orchestrated a photo-op alongside Steven Seagal at a famend martial arts academy in Moscow. Seagal shadowed Putin throughout the event as if he have been a member of the president’s safety element. Since then, the American martial artist and D-list actor has served as an unofficial spokesperson of kinds for Putin, defending Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and referring to him as “one of many biggest world leaders, if not the best world chief alive.”
The longstanding friendship between Putin and Seagal rapidly turned mutually helpful. Seagal’s faltering stardom was revitalized in Russia whereas Putin gained a political ally to salvage his picture within the West.
The Russian president put this idea to check when he proposed to the Obama administration that Seagal be appointed as Russia’s “honorary consul” in a number of U.S. states. The proposal would have positioned Seagal as an official envoy and mediator between Washington and the Kremlin when all different avenues had deteriorated—a proposition that reportedly left Obama “flabbergasted”.
Whereas Putin’s try to make use of Seagal to mediate ties between the US and Russia failed throughout Obama’s tenure in workplace, Seagal remained concerned in back-channel discussions between the US and Russia. In 2013, Seagal accompanied an American congressional delegation to Russia following the Boston Marathon bombings. In response to one of many congressmen current on the journey, Seagal “opened up some doorways” for the group whereas in Russia.
Seagal would go on to turn out to be a full-fledged Kremlin propagandist over the approaching yr. He publicly defended Putin’s annexation of Crimea, referring to his insurance policies as “very cheap.” He additionally played at a concert for pro-Russian separatists within the Crimean peninsula following its annexation.
Because of his loyalty to Putin, Seagal was rewarded with Russian citizenship in November 2016.
Learn the remainder of this publish on the Bloody Elbow Substack.
In regards to the writer: Karim Zidan is an investigative reporter for Bloody Elbow specializing in the intersection of sports activities and politics. His can also be a contributor to The New York Occasions and The Guardian. Subscribe to his Sports Politika newsletter. (full bio)
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