Bloodhound Gang deported and possibly banned from Russia for an unfortunate flag-down-pants incident
The U.S. rap-rock group Bloodhound Gang was deported from Russia and assaulted by angry nationalists after a video of bassist Jared Hasselhoff sticking a Russian flag down his pants and pulling it out the back before a cheering crowd in the Ukrainian city of Odessa went viral on YouTube.
Due to backlash from the incident, Bloodhound Gang's performance at the Kubana Music Festival in Krasnodar Krai was cancelled by the request of Russian culture minister Vladimir Medinsky, who tweeted "Bloodhound Gang packing suitcases. These idiots won't perform in Kubana." Band members were pelted with eggs and tomatoes while leaving the nearby town of Anapa, and were assaulted by an angry crowd in an airport lounge while awaiting a plane to take them from the country. Attackers attempted to smother an unnamed band member with an American flag before police intervened.
Russian senator Ruslan Gattarov submitted an official request to have the music group banned from the country after their departure, claiming that Hasselhoff's act constituted the "desecration of the national emblem or the national flag" which is punishable by imprisonment or forced labor.
Hasselhoff apologized for his actions in Odessa, though not for his actions in Kiev one day earlier when he peed on a Ukrainian flag.