David Lynch and Seth Meyers nominate Putin for Ice Bucket Challenge after Vin Diesel
Filmmaker David Lynch are comedian Seth Meyers are the two latest Hollywood celebs to dare Russian President Vladimir Putin to pour a bucket of ice water over his head as part of a campaign to raise money to fight Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
Both Meyers and Lynch are featured in videos uploaded to the web this week in which the Russian president is nominated to take part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a viral campaign launched earlier this summer that has raised at least $41.8 million to fight the condition commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease as of last week, according to the New York Times.
Each clip shows the respective celeb dousing their self in ice water before nominating Pres. Putin to do the same. According to the challenge’s informal rules, the Russian leader is required to respond by either pouring ice water over his own head and donating $10 to fight ALS, or skip the spectacle instead and simply cut a check for $100.
Earlier this month, movie star Vin Diesel took the Ice Bucket Challenge, then nominated Pres. Putin, United States first lady Michelle Obama and actress Angelina Jolie to give it a go. At the time, a spokesperson for the Russian president told the Lenta.ru news site: “We’ve had other things on our agenda.”
US President Barack Obama has previously been nominated to partake as well, but a spokesperson for the White House told the Boston Globe earlier this month that the president would be making a monetary contribution to the ALS charity instead.
In the latest uploads to dare Pres. Putin to participate, Meyers donned a bucket of ice water while walking offstage from the Emmy awards in the midst of this week’s broadcast. On his part, the often enigmatic Lynch of “Twin Peaks” fame performed his stunt while attempting to play “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on the trumpet.
“And now I would like to nominate for the ice bucket challenge: Vladimir Putin,” a soaking wet Lynch deadpans to the camera.
At least one Russian politician has participated in the charity challenge so far, though: Governor Georgy Poltavchenko of St. Petersburg recently doused himself to raise money after being dared by a local football player.
"Your offer reached me at home so I transferred the money first, and now I have come home and want to fulfill the second part of the assignment and also appeal to my colleagues — the governors of St. Petersburg's sister cities — to follow my example," Poltavchenko said, according to the Moscow Times.
