Morgan Freeman is among 963 Americans banned from Russia as the Kremlin fights against the West’s sanctions.
The Daily Mail reports the legendary actor with a voice smoother than butter itself, Morgan Freeman, is one of many ‘permanently banned’ from entering the eastern European country.
Russian Foreign Ministry officials said the people on the list 'incite Russophobia'.
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The Shawshank Redemption star was banned seemingly for appearing in a 2017 video produced for an organisation titled 'Committee to Investigate Russia', where he accused the Russian government of interfering in the 2016 US Federal Election.
In the video, he said: "We have been attacked. We are at war. Imagine this movie script: a former KGB spy, angry at the collapse of his motherland, plots a course for revenge.
“Taking advantage of the chaos, he works his way up through the ranks of a post-Soviet Russia and becomes president. He establishes an authoritarian regime, then he sets his sights on his sworn enemy: the United States.”
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Rob Reiner (When Harry Met Sally and Runaway Bride director), who directed the clip, is also prohibited from entering the country.
The Foreign Ministry issued a media release, saying: "In the context of response to the constantly imposed anti-Russian sanctions by the United States and in connection with incoming requests about the personal composition of our national 'stop list', the Russian Foreign Ministry publishes a list of American citizens who are permanently banned from entering the Russian Federation."
They added: “We emphasise that the hostile actions taken by Washington, which boomerang against the United States itself, will continue to receive a proper rebuff."
The ministry also accused the US of establishing ‘neocolonialism’.
“Russian counter-sanctions are forced and aimed at forcing the ruling American regime, which is trying to impose a neo-colonial 'rules-based world order' on the rest of the world, to change its behaviour, recognising new geopolitical realities,” they said.
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“Russia does not seek confrontation and is open to honest, mutually respectful dialogue, separating the American people, who are always respected by us, from the US authorities, who incite Russophobia, and those who serve them. It is these people who are included in the Russian 'black list’.”
The ‘black list’ is the country’s latest stance against those who have condemned the nation and its leader Vladimir Putin.
Joe Biden, President Kamala Harris, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and even the late former US Senator John McCain are also banned, despite the latter being dead.
Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump’s name is nowhere to be seen on the Kremlin’s list.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy.Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Politics, Morgan Freeman, Celebrity