Vladimir Putin does not like being depicted as a “gay clown. ” The popularity of images featuring Putin all glammed up to protest the President of the Russian Federation’s anti-gay policies has led to a ban on such images as a result. Shirtless cheesecake power-preening photos are still okay, mind you.
Ratings dynamo and all-around quality talk show host Stephen Colbert tackled this subject on Friday tearing the absurdity of Putin image censorship to shreds complete with bonus cartoon action! The bespectacled comedian laid out how dumb the whole thing is and the “clown” factor is what really sends things up a notch.
“Straight clown, totally OK,” mused Colbert. “Bisexual lion tamer, again, totally fine! But ‘gay’ and ‘clown,’ Nyet, comrade!”
Naturally, this led to a delightful take on Putin’s image insecurity and plain ol’ homophobic jackassery. Does it involve a dance anthem and Donald Trump clutching Putin’s torso atop a unicorn? Damn skippy it does.
“Because this is America — for now — and we can do anything we want, the Late Show has put together its own artistic interpretation of Vladimir Putin, gay icon,” said Colbert as he tossed to the rainbow-kissed animated sequence.
If we didn’t know any better, it seems like Colbert isn’t worried about booking Putin for sweeps.
