The Israeli entrant for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Hovi Star, has claimed that he suffered a homophobic reaction whilst in Russia to promote his song Made Of Stars.
Singer Hovi Star, who is representing Israel in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest has claimed that passport control officers in Russia ripped his passport and told him that he couldn’t get into Moscow.
During an interview he said that he was surprised at the alleged reaction and questioned whether it was because he is openly gay, the way he dresses and that he wears makeup.
ADVERT
Speaking on Malta TV, Star said,
‘Maybe people in Moscow have a rough time with people like me, maybe because I’m gay, maybe because I dress like this, maybe because I wear make-up, I don’t know. But when I wanted to get into Moscow, I had problems with passport control. They told me I can’t go in, they looked at my passport, they ripped my passport.
Star also claimed that the two officers laughed at him.
‘It’s amazing that this happened in the Eurovision bubble because my song Made of Stars it talks about equality it talks about how everybody is the same, everybody was born the same, everybody will die the same.
During his interview in Malta, Star talked about how his song, Made Of Stars, is about equality and how everybody is born the same and dies the same.
The live studio audience erupted into applause at his speech.
ALSO READ: Malta Tops The UK For Best Place For LGBTs In Europe
ALSO READ: Romania Booted From The Eurovision Competition
‘Let’s take this as a lesson. I don’t take it personally, I really like Sergei Lazarov and I like Russia. This wasn’t a nice experience, we live, we learn, we continue, we smile and we give free love to everyone.’
Star was eventually let in to Moscow not before, he said, he had to go to the Israeli Consulate in Moscow to get a brand new passport.
TheGayUK.com reached out to Moscow Airport for comment.
