Television | The pro-Russian Serbian actor was fired from White Lotus

Streaming company HBO has fired the Serbian actor to Miloš Bikovićwhich it had previously fixed The White Lotus – as an actor in the third season of the drama series. He was the first to tell about it Deadline news websiteand it has been widely reported elsewhere in the international press.

The cast of the series' third season was announced in early January, and Biković's choice sparked protests in Ukraine.

The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs communicated at the end of January In the X servicethat Biković is pro-Russian and has supported Russia's war of aggression from the beginning.

Biković has been a Russian citizen since 2021, and he has, among other things, received From Vladimir Putin medal for his work for Russian art and culture.

He has been working in Russia for more than ten years and has, among other things, visited and worked in the occupied Crimean peninsula, due to which Ukraine has banned him from entering the country.

Quoted by Deadline in the statement, Biković commented on the uproar that led to his firing as “a triumph of absurdity and a defeat of art”.

According to him, a targeting campaign has been targeted against him, with which external pressure has been used to influence decisions. It “can create a disturbing precedent that overshadows artistic freedom,” Biković says in his statement.

HBO has said that filming of the season will start in February in Thailand, where the events of the season take place. The character previously envisioned for Biković will be cast again, but there is no information on how this will affect the shooting schedule of the series.