‘The White Lotus’ Torched By Ukraine For Casting Pro-Putin Actor Miloš Biković: “Dear HBO, Do You Really Support Genocide?”

Jake Kanter

25 January 2024 at 6:41 am·2-min read

Ukraine has attacked HBO after The White Lotus cast Miloš Biković, a Serbian actor who has voiced his admiration for Russia and accepted a medal from Vladimir Putin.

Biković joined Season 3 of Mike White’s hit drama earlier this month, with production set to begin in Thailand next month on a story following a new group of guests at another White Lotus hotel.

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Character details have not been confirmed, but Deadline understands that Biković is believed to be playing a Russian.

Ukraine posted a social media video calling out Warner Bros.Discovery’s decision to give Biković work. Tagging HBO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked: “Is it all right for you to work with a person who supports genocide & violates international law?”

Miloš Biković, Serbian actor who has been supporting Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion, is now set to star in HBO's The White Lotus Season 3@HBO, is it all right for you to work with a person who supports genocide & violates international law?

📹 @United24media pic.twitter.com/ceWkXVttfp
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) January 24, 2024

Deadline has contacted Warner Bros. Discovery and Biković for comment.

Ukraine accused Biković of supporting Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country. On Twitter (now X) soon after the invasion, he shared a poll showing trust in Putin was higher than Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The 36-year-old actor has starred in Russian films including 2014’s Sunstroke, which was directed by Oscar-winning director Nikita Mikhalkov. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Biković had filmed in Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

He was awarded Russian citizenship in 2021, telling Serbian media outlet Telegraf that he felt an affinity with the culture of the country.

In 2018, he had a direct encounter with Putin when the Russian president awarded him a Pushkin medal, a prize for advancing Russian culture. Below is a video of Biković accepting the medal.

The first season of The White Lotus, which premiered July 2021 and was set in Hawaii, received 20 Emmy nominations across 13 categories and won 10 trophies, the most wins of any program that year, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. The Sicily-set second installment, which premiered in December 2022, garnered 23 Emmy nominations, including for Outstanding Drama Series.

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