Radar Online
Russian viewers are livid with the sequel to Sex and the City, accusing HBO Max & Sarah Jessica Parker of double standards.
“I took great offense to how the Russian women were insulted in the eighth episode of the “And Just Like That.” A woman is called a “Russian Prostitute”, stating that it is a common occurrence among owners of expensive real estate. Turns out later, the neighbor is a successful entrepreneur and not even Russian,” American-Russian radio star Michael Levitis tells Radar.
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“As an ex-cast member of the Reality Show, The Russian Dolls, our characters caught a lot of flak for portraying Russians, Russian women in particular for being decadent, uber-fashionable and sexual. However, we have never insinuated that the Russian women do not work hard to achieve their success as business owners or professionals, or that they trade their bodies for money,” he continued.
“If Sex and the City characters referred to any other ethnicity as sex workers there would be immediate outcry, calls for boycott and ultimately an apology. I refuse these double standards. On behalf of my Russian speaking mother, sister, daughter and girlfriend – all living in New York and successful in their own right – I demand that HBO apologize for insulting Russian and Russian-speaking women.
Michael Levitis is currently a host of The Michael Levitis Show on Russian Radio FreedomFM 104.7.
Using the hashtags #metoorussia and #metoorussian, Russian emigrants based in the United States launched a petition on change.org, demanding an official apology.
“Rotten ‘tolerance’! They passionately defend one group, but allow themselves to offend and reduce another,” user Petrova Sonya wrote.
“In a TV series which is pretending to be feminist, tolerant to all people of color and [the] LGBT community, you said that a young woman living in a good apartment must be a hooker and use national belonging, are you serious? In 2022! Think about what you said, you should apologize to Russians!” wrote Sandra.
“Shame on you! You are fighting for women’s rights and freedoms all over the world and producing hurtful racist stereotypes about women in Russia at the same time,” bogoslovskaya_k, commented.
HBO Max has yet to react to the scandal and the episode is still available on its streaming service.
