Russian pranksters target Elton John in a ‘hoax call’

A PHONE recording, which revealed Sir Elton John being tricked into thinking President Vladimir Putin had called him to review gay rights, has been broadcast on Russian TV.

Pranksters Vladimir Krasnov and Alexei Stolyarov targeted Sir Elton after stating that he wanted to arrange a meeting with Mr Putin to review gay rights in Russia.

During their call, one prankster played the part of the president, speaking in Russian, while the other translated his remarks.

Sir Elton was entwined in a peculiar sequence of words, which he thought was with the President of Russia. The singer publicly thanked the Russian leader for “reaching out” to him to analyse gay rights – the Kremlin then denied that the conversation had taken place.

The series of unfortunate events unravelled as Alexei who speaks good English introduced himself as Dmitry Peskov, known as Mr Putin’s spokesman. Two short excerpts of the conversation, included Sir Elton claiming that he was “honoured” to speak to Mr Putin and explained that he “wanted only to appeal on behalf of the LGBT community for fair treatment.”