Ballet dancer Sergei Polunin fired following homophobic rant

Royal Ballet-trained dancer Sergei Polunin has been dropped from a major upcoming production of Swan Lake after posting a series of homophobic and sexist messages on social media.

Described by The Times as “the world’s most notorious ballet dancer”, Ukrainian-born Polunin wrote on Instagram that gay men “need a slap” and other male dancers need to “man up”.

In one rant, the 29-year-old said: “Man should be a man and woman should be a woman. Masculine and Feminine energies creates balance.

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“That’s a reason you got balls. Man what’s wrong with you? Females [are] now trying [to] take on the man role because you don’t f**k them and because you are an embarrassment.”

“Need a good slap”, added Polunin, who took Russian nationality in November and has a large tattoo of Russia President Vladimir Putin on his chest, reports France 24.

Polunin picked up his bad-boy reputation after walking out on the Royal Ballet in 2012, reports The Guardian. He had trained at its school from the age of 13 and became its youngest principal at 19.