I cut up the greens like a Red Commissar cut up Ukrainian villagers

[Larry1]

Holodomor humor:

Ivan Urgant prompted an angry complaint from Ukraine's foreign ministry after the ill-judged quip on Smak, a show in which he invites famous people to prepare their favourite dish.
Mr Urgant, 35, a comedian who is one of Russia's biggest television celebrities, said during Saturday's show: "I have cut up the greens, like a Red Commissar cuts up the residents of a Ukrainian village." As a ripple of laughter passed through the audience, he told screenwriter Alexander Adabashyan: "You have cleaned my blade." Mr Adabashyan then replied: "I am simply cleaning off the remains of the villagers." The comments were met with dismay in Ukraine, where millions died in purges, mass executions and a famine caused partly by forced collectivisation of agriculture in the 1930s.

In the capital, Kiev, a group of furious nationalists gathered outside the Russian embassy to pelt a photograph of Mr Urgant with tomatoes, and the foreign ministry issued a statement saying the comedian's words "struck a very discordant note in the high level of strategic partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation and the atmosphere of partnership and mutual understanding between our two nations".

An initial attempt by Mr Urgant to apologise on Twitter did little to soothe the outrage. After saying sorry, he went on to joke that as a punishment he would give all his children, regardless of sex, the Ukrainian male name Bogdan, and henceforth cook only Ukrainian dishes such as beetroot soup on his show. The comedian produced a seemingly more sincere mea culpa on Wednesday.

Speaking on his talk show, Evening Urgant, he apologised and asked for forgiveness from "all residents of Ukraine". "I just said something stupid without thinking," he said, adding: "Please believe me that I did not put into that silly phrase the monstrous chauvinistic meaning which many people saw in it."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10004389/Russian-TV-cook-apologises-for-Ukrainian-peasants-quip.html

What are your thoughts?

[Shadow]

Any new projects like a movie to be released by him soon?