Rostov-na-Donu, Russia
Russia’s biggest pop star is facing a media boycott after his lewd insults to a reporter this week were broadcast all over the country. Singer Filipp Kirkorov became incensed when Irina Aroyan, a journalist with a local paper, asked him if the reason he was recording so many cover songs was that he’d run out of original material. Kirkorov made fun of Aroyan’s clothes and provincial accent. “Why don’t you learn to speak Russian before you interview a star?” he said. After a videotape of the incident began circulating on the Internet, several TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers said they would no longer play or review Kirkorov’s records. “No one, not even a star, has the right to act so boorishly,” said Yurii Vishnya, general manager of the Vostochnyi Express broadcasting company.
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