Russia’s Eurovision entry Sergey has a secret porn past
Russia’s Eurovision entry has seen his participation in the annual singing competition overshadowed by a porn scandal after naked photos of him surfaced online over the weekend.
Sergey Lazarev, 33, who was favourite to win leading up to the contest, performed his song ‘You Are The Only One’ over the weekend and came in at third place.
However, at the same time there, was some controversy surrounding the performer as naked photos surfaced of the singer. In a picture published by The Sun, Lazarev can be seen sat naked on a bed and holding a saw to a woman’s face, while she is handcuffed to a radiator.
It has been claimed that these pictures have resurfaced from a past in fetish porn. The Kremlin have dismissed the claims, saying that the images were actually taken to highlight domestic violence issues.
However, several other nude photos have reportedly appeared on gay porn sites in recent days.
According to The Sun, Moscow found out about the nude photos last month, before attempting to wipe every trace of them from the internet ahead of the competition.
Sergey became a popular figure during his time in Stockholm, managing to achieve the rare feat for a Russian act of not being booed by the audience during Saturday’s live final.
He had previously responded to questions about Russia’s gay rights record by insisting that there was indeed “gay life” in the country, and that LGBT fans would be welcome should the country ever host the competition.
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest was won by Ukrainian entry Jamala, with her song ‘1944’, about her great-grandmother’s persecution as a Crimean Tartar by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
The win has attracted controversy for its political undertones, despite that fact that overtly political songs are banned in the competition. Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and, has been repeatedly accused of encouraging the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.
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