https://www.npr.org/2018/07/03/6240...putin-become-bffs-bob-van-ronkel-introduced-t
For the past two decades, Bob Van Ronkel has been the Forrest Gump of U.S.-Russia relations.
He helped introduce Steven Seagal to Vladimir Putin. He helped introduce Jim Carrey to Oleg Deripaska, the now-sanctioned aluminum tycoon.
Then there were Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn, Woody Harrelson, Lara Flynn Boyle and more, all making visits to Russia — Van Ronkel was even there when Donald Trump's Miss Universe pageant visited Moscow.
Van Ronkel runs Doors to Hollywood, a company that brings American celebrities to Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. If an actor or musician traveled to Russia to hobnob with Putin or wealthy Russian oligarchs such as Deripaska, chances are he was involved.
"I was hired to bring Steven Seagal to perform with his band for another event with President Putin, so kind of was responsible for that introduction, and Steven becoming best friends with him," Van Ronkel told NPR over dinner in Orange County, California, where he happened to be visiting.
Making this and other connections was his business for the years he shuttled between his base in Moscow and the West Coast of the United States, building bridges between Russia's elite and the show business world.
That's why Van Ronkel had a front row seat to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant when Trump visited Moscow.
Van Ronkel's life in Moscow exemplified the way powerful Russians sought to use celebrities to bolster their images and how Russian oligarchs sought relationships with celebrities as a public mark of true wealth. In some cases, it's still paying off.
Seagal, star of "Under Siege" and other action classics, has been one of the most vocal supporters of Putin's regime:
"For anyone to think that Vladimir Putin had anything to do with fixing the election, or even that the Russians have that kind of technology, is stupid," Seagal said on British television last year.
Steve Hall, former head of Russian operations at the CIA, told NPR that even if Van Ronkel hasn't been particularly political, he is part of a larger effort that the Russian government has encouraged.
"It looks very good for Russia because it shows that they are not alone in the world. They haven't been isolated, they indeed have these cultural connections. And they use it to basically increase their validity to the West," Hall said. "And it's a very clever move that they've done for a long time."
Seagal's work in Russia continues to this day; he has helped launch a mixed martial arts fighting league there.
Van Ronkel also palled around with powerful Russians, linking them with Hollywood celebrities — links that became marks of true wealth in a country already dominated by the ultra-wealthy.
His clients paid him to bring over people such as Mike Tyson, Sean Penn and Kanye West — all shuttled to Russia or former Soviet states.
