Elton John responds to 'Putin prank' says 'homophobia is never funny'

Elton John has responded to the 'harsh prank,' which two Russian comedians played on him, regarding a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss LGBT rights.

The 68-year-old posted a picture of a gay couple, in which one of the partners was bruised and captioned it, saying "Pranks are funny. Homophobia, however is never funny. I love Russia and my offer to talk to President Putin about LGBT rights still stands. I will always stand up for those that are being degraded and discriminated against. If this unfortunate incident has helped push this vital issue back into the spotlight, then I am happy to be pranked on this occasion," E!Online reports.

Earlier this week, the musician claimed that President Putin called him and the two will meet to discuss LGBT rights in Russia.

The 68-year-old singer also posted a picture of the Russian President on Instagram, and captioned it "Thank-you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today. I look forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia."

Rejecting John's claim, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that the president did not have a conversation with Elton John and they had not received any requests from him for a meeting.