Russian presenter threatens to lose everything after throwing ‘Almost Naked’ party in Moscow: footage shows her crying and begging for forgiveness | War Ukraine and Russia

The event took place on December 20 and 21 in the trendy nightclub ‘Mutabor’ in the center of Moscow. A whole host of Russian celebrities showed up, including the famous singer Filip Kirkorov, singer and actor Dima Bilan, presenter Ksenia Sobchak and singer and actress Lolita Milyavskaya.

Photos and videos of the party quickly found their way to the internet, not least because the celebrity guests had taken the dress code completely to heart. Rapper Vacio, among others, was noticed because he only wore sports shoes and a sock over his private parts.

However, the images also came to the attention of conservative Russia, including pro-Russian war bloggers. They did not hesitate to express their outrage at organizing such an event in times of war. Together with a number of parliamentarians, religious groups and right-wing activists, they turned to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the prosecutor’s office and demanded action against these “scum”, with measures ranging from a criminal investigation to a boycott.

Rapper Vacio was arrested on December 22. He was jailed for fifteen days for “disturbing the peace” at the party and fined 200,000 rubles (about 2,000 euros) for spreading “LGBT propaganda” in one of his videos. He himself seemed unimpressed. “I don’t give a f*ck. I’m going to exercise and read some books. Hahaha. Peace everyone,” he wrote on Telegram.

Barely a few hours later he took a completely different tone. The state news agency RIA Novosti posted a video in which Vacio apologizes “for offending the feelings of many people at such a difficult time for our country.” He also added that he condemns “LGBT supporters.”

The same story with organizer Nastja Ivlejeva. Earlier today, she posted no fewer than two videos on social media in which she sniffled and apologized for her party. Yesterday, two of the woman’s major sponsors turned their backs on her: Tinkoff Bank (the largest digital bank in the world) and MTS (Russia’s largest mobile network operator). She was also visited by the tax inspectorate.

“They say Russia knows how to forgive. I would really like to ask you, the people, for a second chance. But I am ready for whatever the outcome may be,” she sobbed. “My behavior was unacceptable and I understand the anger and aggression I provoked. I must seem like someone who has gone completely off the rails and lost all touch with reality. This may have had to happen to karmically put me in my place and bring me back to reality. I am very sorry that this happened.”

Many other celebrities also humbly apologized for their presence at the party. Not unnecessarily, because according to the independent Russian news site ‘The Insider’, lists of names of celebrities who participated in the party appeared on Russian television channels, with the request to ban them from all New Year’s shows. Kirkorov and Lolita, among others, suffered that fate.

Remarkable: they also showed themselves to be very sure of themselves when the first criticism surfaced. “Where adults go in their bare asses is their own business,” presenter Ksenia Sobtsjak initially fulminated on Telegram. And she did not see it as a problem that the party took place during the war in Ukraine: “The world is unfair, it was, is and always will be. Somewhere they are killing, somewhere children are starving and somewhere they are drinking champagne right now.”