Shortly before Russia attacked its neighbor, Ivan Urgant’s popular late-night talk broadcast was yanked off the air.
According to reports, Russia’s most famous late-night talk show host, Ivan Urgant, who has been branded as Russia’s version of American television star Jimmy Kimmel, has fled to Israel with his family after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Urgant’s daily talk show, which broadcast on Russia’s state-run Channel One since 2012, was taken off the air on February 21, just three days before Russian forces invaded Ukraine, according to observers.
On February 24, the famed comedian, who has over 10 million Instagram followers, posted a pitch-black square on his account with the comment “Fear and pain.” In Russian, the phrase “No to War” has become a rallying cry for anti-war protesters across the country.
Despite the obvious timing of the show’s cancellation, Russia’s state-run broadcaster has denied that Urgant’s talk show was canceled because of his political views. Urgant’s show was “temporarily” removed off the air, according to channel comments, to make room for more news-related programming.
Whatever the cause of the show’s cancellation, Russian media believed that the Jewish comic, who apparently holds Israeli citizenship, had fled to Israel with his family, fearing official persecution.
A few days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Russian officials threatened journalists and independent media who didn’t follow the Kremlin’s official story about the invasion could face serious consequences.
Violations of these terms could result in a sentence ranging from 3 to 15 years in jail, depending on the repercussions of the information given.
Russia’s biggest late night talk show host, Ivan Urgant, disappeared from public view after criticizing the war on day 1. And that, people, is Cancel Culture. pic.twitter.com/gs5WCxCnvC
— Dr. Ian Garner (@irgarner) March 5, 2022
According to a report by Israel’s Channel 12, BBC Russia tried phoning the popular TV host’s cellphone but received a voicemail message in Hebrew.
Urgant and his family are said to have arrived in Israel a few days ago.
According to Channel 12, Urgant has already visited Israel as part of his job, chronicling life in the Jewish state, which is home to more than 1 million Russian-speaking Israelis.
He invited Israeli pop artist Netta Barzilai to perform on his show in 2020.
Urgant has not acknowledged or rejected the news of his alleged visit to Israel.
In response to the widespread reports about his sudden absence, he shared a photo of himself on Friday with the statement: “Don’t panic. They let me go on vacation, but I’ll be back soon.”
Urgant isn’t the only Russian personality who has publicly condemned the conflict in Ukraine. Valery Meladze, Ksenia Sobchak, Maxim Galkin, comedian and television presenter, and comedian Alexander Gudkov are among the others.
Image Credit: clip-shot/youtube
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