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Ukraine is calling out HBO’s “The White Lotus” for casting Serbian actor Miloš Biković in Season 3, claiming that he is the “Kremlin’s foreign mouthpiece.”
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed sadness over the casting on X/Twitter on Wednesday.
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“Miloš Biković, Serbian actor who has been supporting Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion, is now set to star in HBO’s ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3,” the post reads. “@HBO, is it all right for you to work with a person who supports genocide & violates international law?”
The message is accompanied by a video accusing Biković of supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The clip shows the actor receiving a medal of honor from Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 for his contribution to Russian arts and culture. Biković has been a Russian citizen since 2021 and referred to himself as an “active member of Russian society” in an Instagram post the same year, participating in government-organized roundtables. He has also collaborated with actors in the Russian entertainment industry who supported the invasion, director Nikita Mikhalkov added. In 2019, he told Russian newspaper Telegraf that he had been banned from entering Ukraine.
“If that’s the dark aspect of comedy, then HBO did it very well,” the video reads. “Dear HBO, do you really do genocide?”
Representatives for HBO and Biković did not respond to Variety’s request for comment. In an article published Thursday through the Serbian news firm Tanjug, the Serbian Foreign Ministry defended Biković.
“We stress that the claims of the Ukrainian side are unfounded, because Milos Bikovic is, first and foremost, one of the most popular and talented Serbian actors of his generation who, despite his young age, has already made his mark on Serbian as well. “Like a foreign cinema,” he said. We would like to recall that, on Serbian Diplomacy Day in 2019, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic awarded Bikovic a charter for his remarkable private contribution to the global promotion of Serbia and his rich cultural creativity. “
Biković’s cast for the third season of “The White Lotus” was announced on January 12 along with “The Zone of Interest” star Christian Friedel, Morgana O’Reilly (“Mean Mums,” “Housebound”), Lek Patravadi (“In Family We Trust,” “Nang Nuan”) and Shalini Peiris (“The Ark,” “The Danny”)
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