Many aspects of Steven Seagal’s strange influence in Russia were already known. Seagal told the Moscow Times last year that he considered Russian president Vladimir Putin “a brother.” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher thanked Seagal for helping a congressional delegation “[thwart] radical Islamic terrorism.” BuzzFeed added more unbelievable details to this story on Monday, saying that Putin proposed that Seagal be named an honorary consul of Russia in California and Arizona at the 2013 G-8 summit. President Obama was “flabbergasted,” according to BuzzFeed. One official at the meeting said, “Our reaction was, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’” The White House and the State Department unsurprisingly declined to comment when BuzzFeed called, and Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told them he was unaware of the incident. Peskov did tell them that Seagal and Putin’s friendship was “totally normal.” “I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s a huge fan, but he’s definitely seen some of his movies.”
Seagal is not the only movie star reported to be floated as a potential fix to problems with U.S.-Russia relations. A former national intelligence officer told BuzzFeed, “It would be very hard to intimidate someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
