Culture
10 Feb 20

Pussy Riot music video shut down by Russian police, citing 'gay propaganda' and 'extremism'

The police stormed and shut down the video, which cost $15,000. The group are currently crowdfunding with the intent of finishing the production anyway.

Pussy Riot's music video shoot was stormed and shut down by police in St. Petersburg on Sunday, citing "gay propaganda" and extremism, according a statement released by the band.

The Russian feminist protest punk group was filming a music video for a new single titled 'БЕСИТ / RAGE,' which is "dedicated to a pain that we - feminists and the queer people - feel being the enemies of the state." 150 mostly female and queer activists took part in the shoot.

The police turned off electricity in their location and they were kicked off the premises, according to a video they translated and posted on Twitter. The group spent $15,000 on production only to film 1/20 of the project. They have since taken to crowdfunding via Twitter to finish the video. As of 4:30pm GMT, Pussy Riot have raised $360.

We spent $15k on the video production today - and lost them all because of the absurd "gay propaganda" law, and we'll be thankful if you share this info and/or be kind enough to help us to raise the money to make this video happen anywayhttps://t.co/WJjZzsdnVj
venmo: @nadyariot pic.twitter.com/5HdToxaVvi

— 𝖕𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖞 𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖙💦 (@pussyrrriot) February 10, 2020

Pussy Riot are no strangers to controversy and trouble with the Russian law. The group came to notoriety in 2012 when five group members staged a protest inside a Moscow Cathedral and were condemned as sac religious by the Orthodox clergy. Multiple members have since been arrested for their activism, including a globally-recognised case in 2012 in which two members served nearly two years in prison and in 2018 after a protest at the World Cup final.

Watch Hot Press' 2017 interview with Pussy Riot, ahead of their Button Factory gig.