Russian president Vladimir Putin honored martial arts star Steven Seagal with the Order of Friendship recognition.
The decree credited the “On Lethal Floor” actor, who holds Russian and U.S. citizenship, for his “nice contribution to the event of worldwide cultural and humanitarian cooperation,” in response to Russia’s TASS information company.
Seagal, 70, informed Fox Nation in March 2022 he sees Russia and Ukraine as “one family” and blamed overseas interference for the battle that started when Putin’s troops invaded its impartial neighbor days earlier.
Ukraine prohibited Seagal from getting into the nation in 2017 as a result of it considers him a safety threat.
Russia’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs made Seagal, a Michigan native, a “special representative” between the U.S. and Russia in 2018. He reportedly spent his 70th birthday in Moscow surrounded by Russian state media propagandists he known as “household” and “mates” in 2022.
Along with their friendship, Putin and Seagal share an curiosity in martial arts. Seagal holds a seventh-degree black belt in aikido. Putin held an honorary black belt from World Taekwondo and was the honorary president of the Worldwide Judo Federation previous to his assault on Ukraine. Each organizations shortly distanced themselves from the 70-year-old strongman chief.
Motion star Charlize Theron is famously unimpressed by Seagal’s fight abilities. Throughout a 2020 go to to the Howard Stern Present, Theron mentioned she studied martial artists on tape whereas filming “The Previous Guard” and felt Seagal was an out-of-shape man merely “pushing individuals.”
“He’s chubby and may barely battle,” She mentioned. “Look it up. It’s ridiculous.”
Seagal was thought of for the main function in 1989′s “Batman,” which went to Michael Keaton, in response to the movie’s screenwriter. Seagal was granted Russian citizenship in 2016.
With Information Wire Companies