Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is immune from having bad days because he is “not a woman.”
Hollywood director Oliver Stone’s new Showtime documentary, “The Putin Interviews,” includes frank exchanges that are likely to upset women and LGBT activists, among others. The Russian fielded questions on both issues during a wide-ranging interview with Mr. Stone.
“I am not a woman, so I don’t have bad days,” Mr. Putin says at one point during a Kremlin tour, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday. “I am not trying to insult anyone. That’s just the nature of things. There are certain natural cycles.”
The four-part documentary also features a defense of Russia’s 2013 anti-gay propaganda laws aimed at protecting minors. Human Rights Watch described them at the time as “profoundly discriminatory and dangerous.”
“There are no restrictions whatsoever,” the leader told Mr. Stone.
When asked if he would ever take a shower in a submarine near a gay sailor, he laughed.
“Well, I prefer not to go to the shower with him. Why provoke him? But you know, I’m a judo master,” Mr. Putin said, Bloomberg reported.
“The Putin Interviews” premieres on Showtime June 12-15 at 9 p.m. EST.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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