Lord of the Rings star accepts ‘Zelensky’s’ invitation to Kiev gay parade

Sir Ian McKellen has fallen victim to a Vovan and Lexus prank call

Renowned British actor and LGBTQ rights advocate Sir Ian McKellen accepted an invitation to visit Kiev for a ‘Bandera gay parade’ in a fake interview with Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, who posed as Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

In the nearly ten-minute conversation, which was uploaded by the duo to Russian video hosting site RuTube on Monday, McKellen praised the fact that ‘Zelensky’ was supporting the LGBTQ community in Ukraine.

“I know there are gay soldiers that are fighting for your country, and the best reward for them would be your enthusiasm and readiness to help them when it’s all over,” the actor said.

He went on to ask what more could be done to help Ukraine, to which the fake Zelensky said that Kiev needs more money, and suggested McKellen could also send over more people from the UK to help Kiev’s forces.

“We could form a special gay division in our army, which will consist of people fighting for the freedom of gays. I will take care of them. If you send them, it will be really useful,” the pranksters said.

The ‘Ukrainian president’ went on to suggest that McKellen would have a far-reaching voice that will be “heard by many gays,” adding that “I think you have a lot of gay soldiers, and we will use them to form a tolerant Ukrainian army, and it will become an excellent example for all LGBT communities around the world.”

McKellen promised to deliver the fake Zelensky’s message “to anyone who would listen,” and suggested other methods of promoting LGBTQ rights in Ukraine, such as legalizing gay marriage.

‘Zelensky’ told the British actor that he will eventually allow same-sex marriage, and floated the idea of holding a gay festival in Kiev in honor of Stepan Bandera – a Ukrainian nationalist and Nazi collaborator who was responsible for the massacre of 60,000 Poles During World War II and the killing of over 133,000 Jews, Poles, and Russians.

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McKellen celebrated the proposal as a “wonderful idea,” and asked if he could participate in the parade, to which the fake president promised the actor that he would have him lead the parade, and that he would kiss him before the start to show how close the Ukrainian leader is to the LGBTQ community.

The interview with McKellen is just the latest that the pranksters, whose real names are Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, have been able to obtain from Western celebrities. The duo has so far interviewed people such as Stephen King, David Lynch, JK Rowling, Elton John, as well as a number of politicians, including Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US VP Kamala Harris, and Prince Harry.

While the pranksters used to post their videos on YouTube, they have now moved to the Russian alternative RuTube, after all their channels on Google’s video hosting platform were banned following bombshell interviews with former US President George W. Bush, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel.