(FreedomBeacon.com)- The Guardian, a left-wing British newspaper, really wants the world to know the names of all Hollywood celebrities and other famous people who have spent time in the company of Russian President Vladimir Putin – as if their mere presence with the controversial world leader implicates them in the war with Ukraine.
“Now, as big names from Angelina Jolie to Sean Penn and Mark Ruffalo issue their support for besieged Ukraine, Hollywood must be cringing at the days when a public appearance with Putin wasn’t beyond the pale,” the newspaper’s Phil Hoad writes, after describing all the times that Putin wooed and charmed the world.
Hoad described how in the 2000s, Russia was an important emerging film market – which explains why so many Hollywood celebrities went there.
He described how Putin sought legitimacy on the international stage, resulting in photo ops with all the big stars and “implied entry into the VIP area of global mass entertainment” that helped normalize Russia in the eyes of the world.
Hoad made a good argument for why these Hollywood stars were in Russia and his detailing of the history of Russia trying to emerge on the world stage as a “normal” country is fascinating…but one can’t help but wonder what he’s trying to achieve by sharing all these photographs of celebrities with Putin.
Does he think that Kurt Russell, Sharon Stone, Monica Belluci, Kevin Costner, and so many others should be canceled? Should they be held to account?
Or can we please just leave people alone if they have absolutely nothing to do with the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
You can see the full piece here. See if you can pick up on the snark in the piece that we see…