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HBO has parted ways with Milos Bikovic, a Serbian actor whose casting for the third season of “The White Lotus” had drawn criticism from Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry over his ties to Russia, according to an HBO spokeswoman.
Bikovic’s role in the dark comedy will be recast, the spokeswoman said.
In a statement provided through a spokesperson on Friday, Bikovic said he was leaving due to external pressure.
“Today a selective campaign has been unleashed against me, apparently as an external maneuver to influence decisions that may create a disturbing precedent that overshadows the essence of artistic freedom,” Bikovic said in the statement. “The result of such a narrative is the triumph of the absurd and the defeat of art.”
HBO announced on Jan. 12 that Bikovic, 36, would join the cast of “White Lotus.” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry criticized the decision on social media weeks later. writing in X, “HBO, is it okay for you to work with a person who supports genocide and violates international law?”
On Instagram In 2022, in a post shared the day after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Bikovic said 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!”
Bikovic has been celebrated by Russian leaders. President Vladimir V. Putin awarded him the Pushkin Medal, which honors contributions to Russian arts and culture, in 2018. The following year, Ukraine banned Bikovic from entering the country for what it called national security reasons, making him led to say a Serbian publication that “the situation is absurd.” She received Russian citizenship by presidential decree in 2021.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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.
In his statement, he referred to his childhood in a country devastated by war and expressed his opposition to all armed conflict.
“There are more and more active conflicts around the world,” he said. “Everyone is different. Each one is heartbreaking. I wish that everyone would stop and that the principles of love would prevail.”
The third season of “The White Lotus” will begin production in Thailand this month and will air in 2025. The ensemble will include Walton Goggins, Carrie Coon, Parker Posey and returning cast member Natasha Rothwell.