After criticism from Ukraine
“The White Lotus” does without Bikovic
At the center of Ukrainian criticism: the Serbian actor Miloš Biković.
© imago/ITAR-TASS
After criticism from Ukraine, actor Miloš Biković will not appear in the series “The White Lotus”.
HBO has apparently separated from Miloš Bikovic (36). This is what a spokeswoman for the station said according to the New York Times. The Serbian actor’s involvement in the third season of the series “The White Lotus” had previously been criticized by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry because of Bikovic’s ties to Russia. The role will be filled, the spokeswoman said, according to the report.
In a statement, Miloš Biković said he was leaving due to outside pressure, according to the newspaper. He speaks of a “targeted campaign” against him.
Criticism from Ukraine
HBO announced on January 12 that the 36-year-old actor was joining the cast of the new season of “The White Lotus.” The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry criticized the decision weeks later on social media and wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Is it okay for you to work with a person who supports genocide and violates international law?”
According to media reports, Biković has worked a lot in Russia over the past ten years. In 2018 he received an award from Vladimir Putin (71) and became a Russian citizen in 2021.
Season three of “The White Lotus” is filmed in Thailand
Production on the third season of “The White Lotus” is set to begin in Thailand this month. The new episodes are expected to air next year. The ensemble includes Walton Goggins (52), Carrie Coon (43), Parker Posey (55) and Natasha Rothwell (43).
The premiere season of the HBO series had six episodes in the summer of 2021, and season two had seven episodes around a year and a half later. It was recently rumored that HBO might show more episodes in the new season. The start of the anthology series, which takes place in a different resort of the fictional hotel chain “The White Lotus” each season, won ten Emmys in 2021.