A pro-Kremlin television channel owned by one of European football’s biggest sponsors has prompted outrage with a racist parody of Barack Obama by an actress in blackface.
NTV, owned by the Russian gas giant Gazprom, broadcast the sketch during a political satire show at the weekend. Mr Obama’s presidency was described as the “dark side” of American history and he was portrayed as a rapper wearing gold chains and singing “I’m a chocolate bunny”, from a popular Russian pop song.
When asked to comment on Mr Obama’s new memoir, the actress says it was a significant achievement because “none of my relatives before me could write”. The show is hosted by Tigran Keosayan, whose wife, Margarita Simonyan, is editor-in-chief of RT, the Kremlin-funded television
