How has 'RACIST' Robbie Williams made the Russians SO furious with outrageous new video?
RUSSIAN officials are furious with Robbie Williams and state media has slammed his Party Like A Russian music video, accusing him of borderline racism. Is he really mocking President Putin?
Robbie Williams releases 'Party Like A Russian' teaser
The former Take That star’s new music video see him dressed up as a Russian oligarch; dancing with showgirls at a mansion.
The first verse includes lyrics lampooning the country’s elites.
Robbie sings: “It takes a certain kind of man with a certain reputation.
“To alleviate the cash from a whole entire nation."
It continues: “Take my loose change and build my own space station. Ain't no refutin' or disputin' I'm a modern Rasputin.”
Interestingly the singer decided not to use President Putin’s name in the song despite obvious opportunities for rhyming.
Robbie has since clarified on his Twitter account that the song isn’t about Putin, but just stating that “Russians are ridiculously good partiers.”
He wrote: “This song is definitely not about Mr Putin.”
Nevertheless the track and its video have been a trending topic of controversy in the Russian media.
The Guardian reported that the country’s newspapers expressed outrage for the video’s “crude stereotyping of Russian culture.”
The British newspaper also reported that some viewers found the video “borderline racist”
Russian state TV channel Vesti claimed the Russian theme was all that was capable of saving Robbie whose popularity “in recent years was becoming a memory rather than a reality.”
Roman Popkov, who’s employed by exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, said: “[The video is] s*** because it imparts the puny, vulgar Russian elite, which has nothing to do with aesthetics, beauty or romanticism.”
One tabloid, Life, even went as far as to suggest that Robbie would never we allowed to perform in Russia again.
The song is the second track from Robbie’s new album, The Heavy Entertainment Show, to be previewed.
The singer co-wrote songs with Brandon Flowers, Ed Sheeran, Guy Chambers and John Grant.
Speaking to Beats 1 of the record he said: “I was musing over the phrase ‘light entertainment’ - all the huge TV shows from when I was a kid, 30 million people watching them, this huge shared experience of these moments called light entertainment.
“Sometimes it can be levelled at people in a bad way, but for me that’s heavy entertainment.
“That’s what I’m hoping to do with this album - to have a shared experience with millions of people through the medium of light entertainment, but on steroids.”
The Heavy Entertainment Show will be released on November 4, 2016.