The celebrities that are still defending Putin — and those that have turned their backs on him

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has been losing friends ever since he invaded Ukraine last year.

• But some public figures have stayed loyal to him, including Hollywood actors and musicians.

• While some of them continue to defend Putin, they have also said they are against the war.

From actor Leonardo DiCaprio to martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme, some celebrities were once happy to be pictured with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Source: The Guardian

But after the Russian leader launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, many have been eager to distance themselves from him.

Martial artist and actor Van Damme, for example, visited Ukraine last month and was filmed shouting "Glory to Ukraine" alongside Russian soldiers.

In 2007, Van Damme, his daughter, and Putin — also a known martial arts enthusiast — visited an MMA event in St. Petersburg, Russia, together, the Kremlin reported at the time.

Leonardo DiCaprio, who met with Putin in 2010 to discuss the endangerment of the Siberian Tiger, has since donated to humanitarian groups operating in Ukraine.

A month after Russia launched its attack, DiCaprio donated to groups including the United Nation's High Commissioner for Refugees and Save the Children, the Associated Press reported.

Source: The Guardian

Another former showbiz pal, French actor Gérard Depardieu, has since criticized Putin for his "crazy excesses" and was critical of the war.

In 2013, Putin signed an executive order making Depardieu a Russian citizen. The actor wanted to become a Russian citizen to save taxes in France, The New York Times reported.

In a letter to Russian state television at the time, he said: "I love your president, Vladimir Putin, very much and it's mutual," according to The Times.

After the war,  Depardieu told Agence France-Presse in an interview: "Russia and Ukraine have always been brother countries. I am against this fratricidal war."

"I say, 'Stop the weapons and negotiate,'" he added.

In March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, French media reported that Depardieu became a citizen of the United Arab Emirates. It is unclear when exactly this occurred.

Source: Sky News 

In 2003, the Beatles frontman Paul McCartney visited the Kremlin to perform for Putin. Since the war, he's shown his solidarity with Ukraine.

In April last year, McCartney waved the Ukrainian flag as he kicked off his 2022 world tour in Spokane, Washington, MailOnline reported.

In 2001, actor Jack Nicholson reportedly offered Putin a film producer role in a future film after the Russian leader said he loved his movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Nicholson has since come out in support of Ukraine.

In a video posted several months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Nicholson was seen holding up a rock with the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

The caption said: "We are with the people of Ukraine."

Source: The Guardian

However, some A-listers have decided to stay loyal, even if they might not fully agree with the war in Ukraine.

Arguably his most public supporter is the Hollywood actor Steven Seagal, who also became a Russian citizen in 2016 after Putin personally gave him his passport.

Seagal and Putin are long-time friends.

The actor previously backed the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and is also in support of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

In February, Putin awarded him the Order of Friendship award for his "international humanitarian and cultural work," Reuters reported.

Seagal, who is 70 years old, is known for his appearances in several Hollywood action films, including "The Patriot" and "Above the Law."

In 2017, Ukraine banned Seagal from entering the country on national security grounds, The Guardian reported.

Source: Insider, CNN

Roger Waters, the co-founder of the rock band Pink Floyd, addressed the UN security council at Russia's invitation last month.

In his speech to the UN security council on February 8, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

"The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation was illegal. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms," he said. "Also, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was not unprovoked, so I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms."

In another interview with the Berliner Zeitung in February, Waters said Putin "governs carefully, making decisions on the grounds of a consensus in the Russian Federation government."

After his comments, Polly Samson, the wife of Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, called Waters a "Putin apologist," The Guardian reported.

A week before Russia's invasion, Waters told Russia Today that talk of any attack was "bullshit" and "propaganda demonizing Russia."

Source: The Guardian

In October last year, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi boasted about his friendship with Putin and said the Russian leader sent him 20 bottles of vodka and a "very sweet letter" for his birthday.

In a secret recording, published in October by LaPresse, Berlusconi can be heard telling lawmakers during a parliamentary meeting about his "re-established" relationship with Putin.

In the audio clip, which his office confirmed was authentic, he boasts that the Russian leader called him "the first of his five true friends."

Berlusconi has also blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the war in Ukraine telling Italian media last month that Zelenskyy could have stopped the war.

"I judge, very, very negatively the behavior of this gentleman," Berlusconi added.

Berlusconi, who was Italy's prime minister for close to a decade, is now a senator and heads the conservative party Forza Italia.

But Berlusconi has previously also condemned the war and admitted in April last year that he was "deeply disappointed and saddened" by the behavior of the Russian leader.

The former chief executive of the Formula 1 Group and billionaire Bernard Ecclestone said he would "take a bullet" for Putin last summer.

"Unfortunately he's like a lot of business people, certainly like me, that we make mistakes from time to time and when you make the mistake, you have to do the best you can to get out of it," Ecclestone told Good Morning Britain in June 2022.

Ecclestone also criticized Zelenskyy and argued that the Ukrainian leader wasn't making a "big enough effort" to discuss a peace plan and described Putin as a "sensible person."

"The other person in Ukraine, his profession I understand, used to be a comedian, and I think it seems that he wants to continue that profession," Ecclestone said of Zelenskyy.

After his comments prompted a backlash, Ecclestone apologized, telling Sky Sports: "Often people, I think, come out and say things or do things without really too much thinking. Probably I did the same, and I can understand people thinking I'm defending what he's done in Ukraine, which I don't."

He added: "I was brought up during the war, the last war, so I know what it's like. And I feel sorry for the people in Ukraine having to suffer for something they haven't done. They've done nothing wrong."

Source: Sky News 

American filmmaker Oliver Stone, who has previously interviewed the Russian president, said in May that Putin is "a great leader for his country and the people love him."

In 2017, Stone released a 4-hour-long documentary about Putin, which was sympathetic about the Russian president. Stone said at the time that Russian people "have never been better off."

In a follow-up interview by The Guardian this month, Stone indicated that his views on Putin had not changed much despite the war.

"I think Russia is doing a great job with nuclear energy," he told The Guardian. "China is also a leader in that field, although I never was able to penetrate into China, which was a shame for the movie I wish we had. But Putin is a great leader for his country and the people love him."

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