Russia still doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo that it’s not 1991 in Hollywood. For years, the country has pedaled former action “star” and noted creep Steven Seagal as the poster boy for a kinder, gentler relationship between the U.S. and Russia. In late 2016, the Under Siege actor was granted Russian citizenship. In 2018, Russia named Seagal a special envoy to the United States. And now, as The Wrap reports, the 69-year-old Lansing, Michigan native has been asked to join A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth, a pro-Vladimir Putin organization with lots of oddly spaced dashes.
On Saturday, the group released a video of Seagal, decked out in his signature shades, being inducted into its ranks. The organization, which only came into existence earlier this year, is made up of three previously existing pro-Putin parties.
Seagal, clearly touched by the invitation to join his fellow Putin-heads, shared a few words to mark the moment—though mostly about how he’d like to arrest more people when it comes to businesses that damage Russia’s precious environment.
https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1399051730289971204?s=20
“Without being able to arrest people, when we just fine them, they are probably making more money of the production of the things that are defiling the environment,” Seagal said.
The man, of course, knows what he speaks. In addition to his “acting” work, Seagal—who has praised Putin as “one of the great living world leaders”—has logged some time in law enforcement. Seagal was a reserve deputy chief in the Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; though the position was largely ceremonial, it became the basis for Steven Seagal: Lawman, the A&E reality series no one asked for. None of which gives Seagal any authority to arrest anyone—companies, individuals, or otherwise—in Russia… but who knows what appointment Seagal will receive next.
(Via The Wrap)