Is Elton John Trolling Vladimir Putin?

Update: Two pranksters in Russian claim they’re responsible for fooling Elton John into believing that Russian President Vladimir Putin had given him a call.

LGBTQ Nation reports:

Vladimir “Vovan” Krasnov and Alexei “Lexus” Stolyarov told Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda on Wednesday that they had fooled Elton John by calling him on Tuesday and pretending they were Peskov and Putin. The two men, known for prank-calling Russian and Ukrainian celebrities for television shows, said the audio of the call would be broadcast on a prime-time show later Wednesday.

Previously:

Since Instagram is basically a top news source these days, much attention has been given to a recent post from Elton John’s account thanking Vladimir Putin for reaching out to the singer to discuss LGBTQ equality.

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And really, who wouldn’t chomp at that bit?

Outlets ranging from gay media to the New York Times relayed John’s post:

Thank-you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today. I look to forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia. @president_vladimir_putin @ejaf #lgbt #lgbtrights #ShareTheLove

A photo posted by Elton John (@eltonjohn) on Sep 14, 2015 at 8:11am PDT

Adding to its legitimacy is John’s previous post — a photo with Ukranian President Poroshenko:

After speaking at the #YESUkraine2015 Conference today in Kiev, I met with Ukraine President Poroshenko about the importance of legislative changes to support LGBT rights. Specifically, I asked him to: 1. Ban discrimination in the workplace based on sexuality and gender identity. 2. Provide criminal penalties for hate crimes. I want to thank him and the First Lady for welcoming me and David so warmly, and for his support. @ejaf @davidfurnish @poroshenkopetro #lgbt #lgbtrights #ShareTheLove A photo posted by Elton John (@eltonjohn) on Sep 12, 2015 at 12:06pm PDT

The only thing is, the Kremlin says it never happened.

Putin’s press secretary, Dmitri S. Peskov, said on Tuesday that Mr. Putin has never spoken to Mr. John. “This does not correspond to reality. There was no conversation.”

Related: Someone Tell Vladimir Putin His “Straight Pride” Flag Needs Serious Work

Peskov added that he has no doubt that Putin would be willing to talk with John, about any and all issues (we highly doubt that).

John’s camp confirmed the conversation did indeed take place, so either Putin — the Russian symbol of stoic masculinity — is afraid to admit he dialed up a singer famous for elaborate rhinestone outfits, or John is trolling the president.

Either way, “Razor Face” is an underrated song.