A ballooned 400lb Steven Seagal was seen strutting his distended tummy through crowds at Moscow’s famous Red Square to show support for his beloved Russia.
The former action star has continued to gain weight during his extended retreat from the public eye: he hasn’t posted on social media since December 2021 and has held Russian citizenship since 2016.
But his aversion to publicity didn’t stop him from showing up for Russia’s Victory Day celebrations earlier this month – marking the defeat of Nazi Germany – and supporting the man he has called his ‘brother’ and the ‘greatest living world leader’, Vladimir Putin.
Seagal, 73, was seen in an exclusive Daily Mail video walking through the Moscow crowds in a embroidered Japanese-inspired kimono, which he wore over a Mandarin-collared shirt and a religious necklace with white beads.
Meanwhile, the 6ft 4in one-time star’s iconic ponytail appears to have shriveled up into frayed wisps.
Victory Day’s May 9 procession saw armored vehicles rolling down the square’s cobblestone streets and soldiers marching in precise formations as Russian-aligned world leaders gathered to watch.
A ballooned 400lb Steven Seagal was seen strutting his distended tummy through crowds at Moscow ‘s famous Red Square to show support for his beloved Russia
The former action star has continued to gain weight during his extended retreat from the public eye: he hasn’t posted on social media since December 2021 and has held Russian citizenship since 2016
Seagal has had a long-time and well-documented friendship with Vladimir Putin
Seagal, one of Russia’s most passionate supporters, was spotted watching the display near a Russian nationalist biker gang called the Night Wolves, according to French news agency Agence France-Presse.
The illusive martial artist’s appearance marks yet another show of solidarity with Russia, which he has vocally supported in recent years – even appearing in a Russian propaganda documentary about the war in Ukraine.
The 30-minute documentary, publicly available on Russian website Smotrim.ru and operated by Russian state-run broadcaster VGTRK, was released in October last year.
It followsewd the portly Putin partisan wandering around Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, between drone shots of rubble and bombed-out buildings.
Among the documentary’s lies was the claim Seagal ‘visited the sites’ of ‘crimes’ comitted by Ukranian, not Russian, soldiers against civilians in Donetsk and Lugansk.
And the filmmakers did not shy away from showing Seagal’s weight gain – a sharp contrast to the fit, martial-arts-trained figure he once embodied in action hits like Under Siege, Marked for Death, and On Deadly Ground.
The illusive martial artist’s appearance marks yet another show of solidarity with Russia, which he has vocally supported in recent years – even appearing in a Russian propaganda documentary (pictured) about the war in Ukraine
The filmmakers did not shy away from showing Seagal’s weight gain – a sharp contrast to the fit, martial-arts-trained figure he once embodied
But the glory days of the 1990s are long behind him. Instead, Seagal has reinvented himself as a prolific mouthpiece for Russian propaganda.
He left his life in America behind after being granted Russian citizenship in 2016 – a move reportedly approved after multiple personal requests, according to a Kremlin spokesperson.
Seagal has often cited his heritage, noting that his paternal grandparents emigrated from Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East.
The same man whom Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels once labeled the ‘worst host ever’ has since become a devoted admirer of President Vladimir Putin.
That allegiance was solidified in May 2024 when Putin personally awarded him the Order of Friendship.
At the award ceremony, Seagal falsely claimed Ukraine was known for ‘organ trafficking, child sex trafficking and Nazism’.
It reflected a well-documented and long-term bond.
Seagal has called Putin ‘one of the greatest world leaders’ and, in 2014, told the Moscow Times he ‘would like to consider [Putin] as a brother’.
As for the weight gain, a source who worked with the action star in the 2000s was shocked at his latest appearance, estimating he has gained ‘at least 50 pounds’ since his appearance in October’s documentary. Back then he was thought to be 350lbs.
The source also told the Daily Mail that Seagal would be livid at the sight of the footage.
Putin giving the Order of Friendship to Seagal during an awards ceremony at the Kremlin in May 2024
Seagal is seen right in 1997 film Fire Down Below
‘[In the past] he would have gone ape-s**t at the cameraman for anything that made his hair or weight look bad. Seagal, as a rule, controlled the narrative hard when filming as he insisted on certain camera angles and nothing that accentuates his weight gain,’ the source said.
Seagal’s move to Russia came after news broke that the Los Angeles District Attorney was reviewing a sex abuse case against him, after decades of allegations by women who worked with Seagal.
The DA’s office eventually declined to prosecute due to the statute of limitations running out.
But it was far from the first time actor had been accused of sexual harassment and other misconduct by women including Portia de Rossi, Julianna Margulies, Jenny McCarthy, Katherine Heigl, Dutch model Faviola Dadis and Inside Edition correspondent Lisa Guerrero.
On top of the sexual assault allegations, Seagal also has been accused of fostering hostile working environments on set.
Seagal had a reputation for punching stunt doubles that were on the sets of the movies he was working on.
Actor John Leguizamo called the marital artist a ‘bully’ on set from his experience working together on the 1996 film Executive Decision.
He told the New York Post that no one had a good time working with him and that Seagal kept ‘hitting the stuntmen on purpose’ until the now-deceased Gene LeBell, highly regarded as one of the most famous stuntmen in Hollywood, intervened by putting him in a chokehold.
Even Saturday Night Live was perturbed by Seagal’s behavior after the martial artist starred in one of the most infamous episodes to have aired on the show, in 1991.
The action star’s unwillingness to go along with the show’s plan and his horrendously bad ideas for skits almost led SNL to consider replacing him as the host and doing a cast-led show, according to former SNL actor David Spade.
But despite Seagal’s propensity to burn bridges with his alleged off-putting behavior, the action star appears to have at least reconciled with his long-time nemesis Jean-Claude Van Damme after three decades.
Seagal, who famously took every opportunity in interviews to call out Jean-Claude, 64, as a ‘fake’ martial artist, had him at his 73rd birthday party in April.
In a video posted on Instagram on April 10, Van Damme put his arm around Seagal and called him his ‘good friend’.
Fans couldn’t believe it at first, questioning whether the footage had been fabricated using AI.
But Seagal’s official account replied to the post, confirming the pictures were ‘absolutely real’.