Ukraine's Foreign Ministry criticized HBO this week after Milos Bikovic was cast in the third season of “The White Lotus,” saying without evidence that the Serbian actor had supported Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
HBO announced on Jan. 12 that Bikovic, 36, would join the dark comedy about wealthy tourists at island resorts. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. made the accusations against Bikovic on social networkswriting: “HBO, is it okay for you to work with a person who supports genocide and violates international law?”
Bikovic received the Pushkin Medal, which honors contributions to Russian arts and culture, from President Vladimir V. Putin in 2018 and received Russian citizenship by presidential decree in 2021.
In February 2022, a day after the invasion began, Bikovic said on Instagram that he wished the war had not happened. “War and bloodshed on either side remind us how far humanity is from global unity and love,” he wrote in Russian and Serbian. “God save the lives of all those who are now in danger!”
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry and Bikovic did not respond to requests for comment. An HBO spokesperson said questions should be directed to Bikovic's representatives.
President Biden has called the Russian invasion a genocide, and the New York Times has compiled evidence of brutalities committed by Russia, including the deliberate killing of non-combatants.
A 79-second video that Ukraine's Foreign Ministry posted on social media interspersed scenes from “The White Lotus” with clips of Bikovic accepting the award from Putin and previous comments it said the actor had made about Russia. In a voiceover, he claimed that Bikovic was “the Kremlin's foreign spokesperson.”
During the Pushkin Medal acceptance speech, Bikovic highlighted the unity between Russia and Serbia. “What a joy for Russians and Serbs in our homeland because we have the same vision of the world,” he said in Russian.
Ukraine banned Bikovic from entering the country in 2019 for what it called national security reasons. At the time, he told a Serbian publication that “from a human and poetic point of view the situation is absurd and interesting.”
Before being cast in “The White Lotus,” Bikovic acted in films such as “South Wind,” which follows a gang member in Belgrade; “Sunstroke,” about military officers remembering the collapse of the Russian Empire; “Ice,” in which he plays a figure skater; and “The Balkan Line,” about a military operation during the Kosovo war.
The third season of “The White Lotus” will begin production in Thailand next month and will air in 2025. It will feature Walton Goggins, Carrie Coon, Parker Posey and returning cast member Natasha Rothwell.
