Get the latest gossip

From Tucker Carlson to Johnny Depp, a celebrity bromance is the must-have accessory for the modern dictator

The men had suffered career setbacks, and were in desperate need of love – thank goodness, then, for the open arms of Putin and MBS, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

The past week or two has seen the formal reveal of two of these new dictator-pet acquisitions: Vladimir Putin’s kind offer to rehome the stray former Fox News host, and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s generous response to the question How Much Is That Deppy in the Window? For his part, Depp responded to Vanity Fair’s request for comment on his new alliance with a lengthy statement claiming to have “experienced first-hand the cultural revolution that is happening” in Saudi, “from emerging young storytellers radiating fresh ideas and works of art to a blossoming film infrastructure and a newfound curiosity for innovation”. There is a grim sort of poetic justice to the fact this televised fawnathon took place just days before Putin’s likely murder of Alexei Navalny, which itself seems to have occurred around the time Tucker was filming imbecilically approving videos in a Russian supermarket.

Get the Android app