Gay porn star ‘photoshopped into Russian uniform’ on war memorial
Russia has seemingly fallen for a prak involving a late gay porn star and a war memorial. (Getty)
Russia has seemingly fallen for a prak involving a late gay porn star and a war memorial. (Getty)
In news that couldn’t be better suited for Hump Day, gay porn star Billy Herrington has apparently been included in a memorial to fallen soldiers of the former Soviet Union.
Herrington, who died in a car crash seven years ago, reportedly appears in a memorial to mark the Battle of Kursk, a turning point on the Eastern front during WWII – and the largest tank battle in history, which took place during the summer of 1943.
There are said to be seven images of the adult-film star.
Images of the mural, alongside a popular picture of a smiling Herrington, have appeared on X/Twitter. The same face can be seen as part of the mural photoshopped into a Russian military uniform.
“As in all things Russia, the memorial wall installed to honour Russians [who] were turned into hamburger, was found to contain not only fake photos, but seven photos of American gay-porn actor William Herrington, photoshopped into a Russian military uniform,” the person responsible for posting the images wrote.
As in all things Russia, the memorial wall installed to honor Russians that were turned into hamburger in Ukraine was found to contain not only fake photos, but SEVEN(!!) photos of American gay porn actor William Herrington, photoshopped into a Russian military uniform. pic.twitter.com/cRgNYXviZM
— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) May 12, 2025
The images were picked up by other X users.
The memorial was erected in Zheleznogorsk, the second-largest city in the Kursk region, currently a contested area in the war between Russia and Ukraine. It consists of a giant mosaic showing some of the 700,000 Soviet soldiers who died in the battle – and Herrington.
The Daily Star reported that police discovered the images of Herrington had been sent to the mural’s creator, Anton Polsky, by a 16-year old who claimed “to be a war hero”.
Polsky reportedly “claimed his innocence for the incident and any offence it may have caused”.
In the Kursk region, an American porn actor was recognized as a hero of the Battle of Kursk.
— Jürgen Nauditt 🇩🇪🇺🇦 (@jurgen_nauditt) May 12, 2025
Seven portraits of Billy Herrington (photo right), the hero of 1990s gay porn, were placed on the "Battle of Kursk" plaque in the city of Zheleznogorsk, the second-largest city in the… pic.twitter.com/4hsTgjLnHU
The story is particularly bizarre given Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ people in recent years, including ‘gay propaganda’ laws which have led to bar staff and venue owners being jailed and more than 50 club-goers being detained.
In addition, language-learning app Duolingo was forced to remove inclusive content, children’s cartoon My Little Pony was labelled 18+ and a gay student expelled from university for posting makeup videos.
In February, it was alleged that the government was creating a database of “extremist” LGBTQ+ people in Russia.
Who was Billy Herrington?
Herrington was well-known in the adult-entertainment industry in the late 90s and early noughties. He was also known as Billy Marcus and Jake Stevens.
He got into the industry after winning Playgirl magazine’s real men of the month contest. He quit porn to focus on a body-building career.
In 2022, a petition to replace a statue of Catherine the Great with Herrington, in Odessa, Ukraine, attracted more than 25,000 signatures. The petition proclaimed that a sculpture of the star would make “a loud statement that Odessa is not some provincial town of the Russian empire… but has its own culture and sense of humour.”
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