Maxim Galkin is one of the biggest stars of Russian show business. For years, the comedian and moderator was considered untouchable. He even got away with malicious parodies of Vladimir Putin. But the Kremlin is now demonstrating: Anyone can be pushed off Olympus.
Comedian, presenter and gifted parodist – Maxim Galkin has many talents. His popularity and marriage to the Russian pop queen Alla Pugacheva gave him the status of sanctity for a long time. For many years, Galkin allowed himself something that not many public figures dare to do in Russia: mockery of Vladimir Putin and his followers. Galkin was not allowed to air his ingenious parodies of the Kremlin chief on state television. But at his concerts he didn’t mince his words. When Galkin parodies Putin’s halting, pinched speech, crowded halls roar with laughter. Whether in Russia, Europe or the USA.
It’s a massive fan base to draw on for Galkin. Putin himself is said to have been one of them – and turned a blind eye to the megastar’s taunts. But that is over now.
The war in Ukraine changed everything for Galkin. It was only a few hours since the first Russian soldiers crossed the Ukrainian border before he took a stand against the war: “I have been in contact with my relatives and friends in Ukraine since the early morning. It is impossible to put into words How I feel! How is all this possible! There can be no justification for war! No to war!” Galkin wrote on his Instagram channel on the first day of the war.
9.4 million people follow the parodist on the social network, which is considered “extremist” in Russia and has been blocked as part of a huge censorship campaign.
Maxim Galkin becomes a dissident
Anticipating what may come, Galkin and his wife Pugacheva were among the first stars to turn their backs on Russia. As for thousands of Russian citizens with Jewish roots, his destination was Israel. The entertainer comes from a Jewish officer family. Arriving in Israel, Galkin continues to take a stand against the war and the Kremlin.
On the orthodox Easter, the 45-year-old directed sharp words against the government in Moscow: “I can’t help but ask a few questions that every normal person has to ask themselves. On the day before Easter (…), Russian rockets hit an apartment building in Odessa. A family dies, a three-month-old baby dies. How does that fit together? How? Explain that to me!”
“Russia is to blame for so many terrible things”
“Let’s start with the fact that rockets shouldn’t target homes. And that’s on weekdays too, and not just on holidays,” Galkin ventures a small sarcastic punchline. “But now I’m hearing that those oh-so-accurate missiles hit a residential building because Ukrainian air defenses shot them down.” shaking his head. There is a complete lack of understanding in the face of the comedian at these words. “So that means that the anti-aircraft defense has to stop working? And then everything is fine?”
“Russia is to blame for so many terrible things. But claims no guilt: The atrocities in Bucha – we weren’t! The Malaysian Boeing – we weren’t! Mariupol razed – we weren’t! A missile hits Odessa – that’s what we were, but not quite! We weren’t everything!” Galkin summarizes the Kremlin’s point of view. His legitimate question: “But what are we going to do there?”
A question to which, along with Galkin, the world does not get an answer. Instead, the comedian is declared a public enemy.
Maxim Galkin is declared a “foreign agent”.
Last Friday, Russia’s Justice Ministry included Galkin in the list of people classified as so-called “foreign agents.” The comedian is involved in political activities and receives funding or support from Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement explaining the decision.
Individuals and media outlets branded as “foreign agents” must appropriately endorse their publications and report their income and expenses regularly to the Department of Justice. Violators face up to five years in prison.
In July, the Russian President signed another law on “Control of Activities of Persons Under Foreign Influence”, which was passed by the State Duma and approved by the Federation Council. The Ministry of Justice can now classify as a “foreign agent” anyone who, according to the Russian authorities, has come under “foreign influence”. Proof of “financing from abroad” is no longer required.
The Kremlin retaliates
The “foreign agent” declaration is merely the final act in a vengeance thriller. In recent months, Kremlin propaganda has poured a bucketful of dirt and filth on Galkin. His concerts have been cancelled. His face banned from TV screens. He lost all advertising contracts. His property in Russia is to be confiscated. Newspapers loyal to the Kremlin spread the false rumor that he was involved in a murder case in Israel. His wife Pugacheva is close to death. He is a traitor.
The crowning put on the witch hunt RT boss Margarita Simonjan. “He allows himself such things that I allow myself to say what I’ve always thought about him: If a person who everyone knows is gay, as a diversion, for personal enrichment, for his career, a elderly woman marries and convinces his auditorium that they are united by a true love, then the full measure of hypocrisy, mendacity and general qualities of this person becomes clear.”
The boss of the propaganda station RT alluded to Galkin’s marriage to the 73-year-old Pugacheva. “You are such a lying person. (…) And you allow yourself to throw dirt on my fatherland,” she said further in a show on state television.
Homosexuality becomes branding
It is an open secret that Galkin is actually homosexual and has a sham marriage with Pugacheva. But as is so often the case, nobody in Russia talks about the obvious. As is the case with many other stars, homosexuality is passed over in silence as long as those affected are crowd pleasers—and more importantly, as long as they are loyal to the Kremlin line.
The Galkin case now demonstrates what happens when this is no longer the case. His sexuality becomes a weapon against him in order to knock him off the Olympus of show business. In recent years, public homophobia in Russia has reached major proportions. Branding someone as homosexual is tantamount to making a public declaration of being a leper.
But despite all the agitation, Galkin did not give in. At his concerts he repeatedly attacks and ridicules the politics of the Kremlin – in Latvia, Poland, Israel and Australia.
Kremlin keeps a door open for Pugacheva
Even in the Kremlin, his performances do not go unnoticed. “There are indeed those who have literally stained themselves with statements that are completely obscene and unacceptable to everyone,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov lashed out at Galkin in early September. “I have not heard a single statement from Alla Pugacheva,” he said. “But her husband made some very nasty statements that I read myself.” Galkin and the rest of the Russians would clearly go their separate ways, Peskov said.
With that, Peskov made it abundantly clear: there is no way back to Russia for Galkin. The Kremlin is still keeping a door open for his wife Pugacheva. The Russian Queen of Pop recently traveled to Moscow for the funeral of Gorbachev. Entry into their homeland is said to have been negotiated by their advocates with the Kremlin, insiders know to report.
Source: Stern
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