Image by Eurovision

Israel’s entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest said he was harassed by Russian border control officers while travelling to Moscow for a preview event, blaming the harassment on his being gay.

The incident took place a couple weeks ago, but Hovi Star spoke about it on Friday during a television interview on Maltese television station TVM.

“Maybe people in Moscow have a rough time with people like me, maybe because I’m gay, maybe because I dress like this, maybe because I wear make-up, I don’t know. But when I wanted to get into Moscow, I had problems with passport control. They told me I can’t go in, they looked at my passport, they ripped my passport and then they laughed at me,” he told the interviewers.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Star’s song for the contest, “Made of Stars,” reportedly is popular in Malta.

Following the Incident, Star was issued a new passport by the Israeli consulate in Moscow to replace the ripped one.

The incident first became public when the Spanish contestant to Eurovision, Barei, who witnessed the incident, spoke about it during an interview on Spanish television. Barei spoke out against Russia over the treatment of Star.

“It’s amazing that this happened in the Eurovision bubble. My song talks about equality. It talks about how everybody is the same,” Star said in Malta. He added that he had visited Russia previously and liked the country. He added that he has received an outpouring of support in the wake of reports of the incident.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount