Actor Steven Seagal, who has held Russian citizenship since 2016 and is a longtime supporter of President Vladimir Putin, has joined a pro-Kremlin party that emerged earlier this year, The Hill reported.
The Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth party, which was created from the merging of three pro-Putin parties and holds 23 of the 450 seats in Russia’s lower chamber of parliament, announced Saturday that Seagal had joined their ranks. In his welcome speech at an event for the party, the actor calls for stricter punishments for companies that cause harm to the environment.
“Without being able to arrest people, when we just fine them, they are probably making more money of the production of the things that are defiling the environment,” Seagal said.
Seagal, who was born in the United States and still retains U.S. citizenship, is best known for the action movies he produced and starred in starting in the 1980’s. In recent years, the actor and martial artist has come under fire after multiple actors, including Portia de Rossi and Rachel Grant, accused him of sexual harassment and assault. Seagal has denied these allegations.
De Rossi tweeted in 2017:
“My final audition for a Steven Segal [sic] movie took place in his office. He told me how important it was to have chemistry off-screen as he sat me down and unzipped his leather pants. I ran out and called my agent. Unfazed, she replied, ‘well, I didn’t know if he was your type.'”
Putin granted Seagal citizenship in 2016, about two years after Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine in a 2014 invasion the actor vocally supported at the time. In 2018, Seagal was named “special representative for Russian-U.S. humanitarian ties,” an unpaid position with the Foreign Ministry.
The National News reported Monday that Seagal recently placed his Scottsdale, Arizona, residence on the market with an asking price of $3.4 million, having previously listed the house, which is located in the gated community Carefree Ranch Homesteads, for $3.7 million in 2019. He purchased the house for $3.5 million in 2010 following his marriage to his fourth wife, Erdenetuya Seagal.
Source: Newmax
