The Russian dictator issued a presidential decree allowing the 80s action star to become a Russian citizen. But Seagal and Putins bizarre love affair goes back years. ">
If you think Donald Trumps budding bromance with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is strong, you aint seen nothing yet. For a true love affair between two stuck-in-the-80s caricatures, look no further than another bloated orange celebrity: Steven Seagal. The Under Siege star received his Russian citizenship on Thursday after Putin issued a presidential decree, according to NPR. Seagals grandparents were Russian Jews, and he has an absurd history with Russian politics and culture.
BuzzFeed ran a detailed account of Seagals cozy relationship with Russia, and the more you read, the stranger it gets. He opened a Planet Hollywood in Moscow in the 90s, which was later converted into a strip club. After visiting a Buddhist province in Russia in 2002 to play a game of chess with their leader, he attempted to get Putin to support a deranged millionaires immortality scheme in 2011 by penning him a letter. The two met that same year.
Putin and Seagal are both martial arts fanaticsin addition to co-starring in crap films with DMX and Ja Rule, Seagal is, in fact, a 7th-dan black belt in Aikidoso Seagal has hosted multiple martial arts demonstrations in Russia over the past few years, including an infamous 2015 demonstration wherein the actor turned reality show lawman schooled a series of curiously
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compliant assistants in Aikido. The whole charade was reminiscent of Putins bogus, Gretzkyesque exploits on the ice. Seagal even went to the 2012 Olympics in London and met the Russian Judo team with Putin. Both men are known for their very public, very dubious displays of masculinity.
Putins macho persona, fashioned by his spin doctors when he came to power as a virtual unknown, is key to the cult of his celebrity, the BuzzFeed piece states. He channels action movie images in televised stunts that paint him as the emblem of the strong, resurgent Russia he seeks to build. He flew in a hang glider with endangered cranes and shot a tiger with a tranquilizer dart. He took to the Siberian wilderness shirtless, riding a horse, swimming in a lake, and stomping through the Tuvan bush with a hunting rifle. He plays an action hero as president, said Fiona Hill, a scholar at the Brookings Institution who co-authored Mr. Putin, a study of his personae.
Perhaps Putins manliest moment was when he released the infamous 2008 DVD Lets Learn Judo With Vladimir Putin.
One might argue that if Putin does love Trump the way many claim he does, its because hes seen as a dominant male celebrity who doesnt take shit from anyone. How that qualifies you for a desk in the Oval Office, Im not sure. We dont know for sure if Seagal supports Trump, but he sure hates President Obama. And now that Putin has fast-tracked the sketchy actors Russian citizenship, it seems his years of dictator devotion have paid off.
Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/04/steven-seagal-loves-vladimirputin-even-more-than-donald-trump-does.html
Steven Seagal Loves Vladimir Putin Even More Than Donald Trump Does
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