Russia already has its own scandal involving celebrities at a party.
What happened in a Moscow nightclub this month was strange. But what happened next says a lot about the current atmosphere in Russia.
On December 20, blogger and TV presenter Nastya Ivleeva hosted a party. So far everything is normal.
But the topic that night in at the Mutabor nightclub in the Russian capital it was “Almost Naked Party.” The participants had to appear almost without clothes.
You could say that the dress code for that night was quite the opposite: there was none. The fewer clothes, the better.
Celebrities and pop stars attended the evening. Russian rapper Vacio, whose real name is Nikolai Vasiliev, appeared wearing only zsports shoes and a strategically placed sock.
It was a private party. But it became public knowledge when they appeared videos and photos on social networks.
Overnight, the garment that covered Vacio became the most famous sock in Russia. And not in a good way.
The scandal broke out. Bloggers, parliamentarians and Pro-Kremlin activists who support the war in Ukraine were furious: How could celebrities party like that while Russian soldiers risked their lives in the “special military operation”?
It was a bitter end to the party for many of those attending.
The rapper Vacio was arrested and jailed for 15 days for “disturbing public order”. He was also fined 200,000 rubles (about $2,200) for “promoting non-traditional sexual relations.”
The organizer of the “Almost Naked Party”, Nastya Ivleeva faces legal action.
More than 20 people have signed a class-action lawsuit.
They demand to pay 1 billion rubles (almost $11 million dollars) to the Defender of the Fatherland Foundationan organization that donates money to soldiers involved in the Kremlin’s “special operation” in Ukraine.
Other partygoers have also encountered problems in the music industry.
It talks about cancellation of concert dates and termination of advertising contracts.
The local press also reported that some of stars are being cut from shows of pre-recorded entertainment that Russian television had prepared for New Year’s Eve.
Suddenly canceled
One by one, the party’s prominent guests took to social media: some to apologize for their attendance, others to insist that they have done nothing wrong.
“I recognize that I made a mistake“declared megastar Philipp Kirkorov, already fully dressed.
“The last thing I want is for a mistake like that to result in restrictions on my career in Russia, the only country in which I exist as an artist and as a citizen“.
“He was wearing a turtleneck, a big trench coat, pants and shoes,” said pop star Dima Bilan.
“I couldn’t know in advance what the other guests would wear.”
“They say that Russia knows how to forgive. If so, I would like ask you, the people, for a second chance“said Nastya Ivleeva in her video message.
“If the answer is no, then I am ready for my public execution. I will not shy away. “I am ready for any result.”
The events of recent days will have surprised these celebrities.
Behind the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Kremlinthey made the conscious decision to remain in Russia and continue their careers, and often their lavish lifestyles, in the country.
Public criticism was reserved for those pacifist celebrities who had left Russia.
That it’s over. But why?
It seems to me that the Russian political system increasingly dependent on scapegoats. You need groups or individuals whom you can point the finger at and blame for internal and external problems.
Until now, those scapegoats included Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, the EU and NATO.
And everything indicates that now they have Added some Russian celebrities to that list.
Maxim Katz, an exiled Russian opposition activist, summed up events this way in a social media post: “In the past, people who attended parties like this had a simple social contract: do what you want as long as you are loyal”.
“But now life is not a party. These ostentatious displays contrast with the outside reality. You cannot celebrate lightly in a country that is at war.”
“For the first time in a long time, the system punished those who supported all of its rules, as long as they did not apply to them.”
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