'The White Lotus' Faces Boycott Calls

Acclaimed HBO show The White Lotus is facing boycott calls over its casting of Russia sympathizer Miloš Biković in its upcoming third season.

Serbian-born Biković, 36, has signed up to portray a wellness guru in the series created by Mike White that had starred Jennifer Coolidge in its first two seasons.

Biković's casting has sparked outrage among Ukrainian officials, who shared a video on social media that accused the actor of supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin's war with Ukraine.

The video, in which Biković is branded a "genocide supporter" and "the Kremlin's foreign mouthpiece," shows the actor appearing to support Russia's occupation of Crimea—an action that preceded Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Biković, who became a Russian citizen by a decree signed by Putin in 2021, has traveled to Crimea on a number of occasions including for work. He was subsequently barred from entering Ukraine in 2019.

Part of the video, which was shared by Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, showed Biković gushingly addressing Putin, who awarded him a cultural medal in 2018. Biković has worked and lived in Russia for over a decade.

"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," read a caption accompanying the video. "@HBO, is it all right for you to work with a person who supports genocide & violates international law?"

Newsweek has contacted representatives of HBO and Biković via email for comment.

Reports of Biković's casting has sparked a strong response from X users, one of whom wrote: "BOYCOTT THE WHITE LOTUS."

"Oh no, time to boycott The White Lotus," another commented. "It's gonna suck anyway, without Jennifer Coolidge."

"Boycott @HBO 's White Lotus," another echoed, before sharing part of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' statement.

Amid the condemnation, some X users spoke out in defense of Biković, with one writing: "He never said anything in support of Russian invasion of Ukraine. He's just an actor who works in Russia, who was hired to play a Russian. Meanwhile there are Zionist actors openly supporting the Israeli government with 0 consequences."

"The world does NOT revolve around Ukraine," another X user weighed in.

"He can't make money??" asked one X user of Biković, while another skipped over the subject at hand to comment: "Oh he's so hot."

Amid the debate, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has defended Biković, branding the accusations that he sided with genocide "unfounded."

"We underline that the claims by the Ukrainian side are unfounded as Miloš Biković is, above all, one of the most popular and the most talented Serbian actors of his generation who, despite his young age, has already left a mark in Serbian as well as international cinema," read a statement, per Serbian news agency Tanjug.

Shortly after Russian forces invaded Ukraine back in February 2022, Biković shared in an Instagram post his desire for there to be no wars.

"Each conflict has its own circumstances," he wrote in Russian, in part. "And the worst part is that war and bloodshed on either side reminds us how far humanity is from world unity and love. God save the lives of all those who are now in danger."