Russian officials charge Kursk teenager with ‘rehabilitating Nazism’ for slipping gay porn star Billy Herrington into veterans collage

Investigators in Russia’s Kursk region are charging a local teenager under a law against “rehabilitating Nazism” after the 16-year-old submitted a photo of Billy Herrington, a gay pornography actor associated with a popular Internet meme, dressed as a Soviet soldier. The image appeared on an 11-meter-tall (36 feet) banner for the town’s Victory Day celebrations, blending Herrington’s likeness with that of genuine World War II veterans. Journalists at Mediazona were among the first to report the story.

The memorial banner featured a collage of photos showing World War II veterans, collected from their descendants living in Zheleznogorsk. Seven different edited images of Herrington were displayed before anyone realized the prank. The banner’s organizer, Anton Polsky, later replaced the fake photos, saying, “I’m ready to apologize, but I don’t know the first thing about American porn actors.” He said he believed the images were real because they originated from a student’s email account and had been edited to appear aged. 

The suspect was 16 at the time of the prank but has since turned 17. Zheleznogorsk Mayor Alexander Mikhailov has suggested working with the teenager responsible “to instill national pride.”

In July 2022, more than 26,000 Internet users signed a petition urging President Zelensky to replace a statue in Odesa honoring Russian Empress Catherine the Great with a monument to Billy Herrington. Zelensky later forwarded the petition’s request to the Odesa City Council, but council members ultimately voted against dismantling and relocating the Catherine monument.