British singer Elton John said on Thursday he was "happy to be pranked" by two Russian comedians impersonating Vladimir Putin if the incident helped shine a spotlight on gay discrimination.
Vladimir Krasnov and Aleksei Stolyarov said they had called the singer in a prank call, one impersonating the Russian president and the other posing as his translator, after John told reporters he wanted to meet Putin to discuss lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) rights.
The 68-year old gay singer posted a picture of Putin on his Instagram account thanking him for the conversation. But a Kremlin spokesman denied the Russian leader had made the call.
John wrote on his Instagram account on Thursday, "Pranks are funny. Homophobia, however is never funny."
