Russian television host Otar Kushanashvili has publicly criticized fellow presenter Dmitry Dibrov over remarks suggesting that God withholds money and large homes from certain people. Kushanashvili made the comments on the show "Kakovo?!", an episode of which is available on YouTube.
Kushanashvili described Dibrov's reasoning as immoderately hideous. Dibrov had argued that God does not give some people money and big houses because they would use such material wealth for base purposes.
Kushanashvili responded by asking, in effect, whether Dibrov meant that God had withheld great wealth from him because he was crippled, wretched, morally vulnerable and emotionally unstable, and unworthy because of his moral uncleanliness. He said there was no correlation between owning a house on Rublyovka and being morally or intellectually superior to him.
What Dibrov originally said
Dibrov made the original comments in an interview with journalist Ksenia Sobchak. He was responding to Sobchak's observation that the younger generation wants to live in a large house and earn a good living.
Dibrov questioned what a person would actually do in a big house, suggesting they would simply wander back and forth through its rooms with drinking companions. He said a large house was not something a person needed, because they would become an alcoholic there and die of liver cirrhosis, or be killed by one of their unreliable drinking companions in one of the many rooms. That, he said, was why God did not give such people money.
Dibrov added that the situation was different for someone who wanted a big house in order to raise a large Russian family or to compose musical masterpieces. In that case, he said, God would grant them the opportunity to do so.
Who are Kushanashvili and Dibrov
Otar Kushanashvili is a Georgian-born Russian television host and journalist known for his outspoken and often provocative commentary on Russian media and celebrity culture. Dmitry Dibrov is a veteran Russian broadcaster who has hosted numerous television programmes over several decades, including the Russian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". Rublyovka is an affluent district outside Moscow long associated with the mansions of Russia's wealthy elite, and is often used as shorthand for extreme wealth in Russian media.
Dibrov's earlier remarks
The exchange follows earlier comments by Dibrov in which he compared people who criticize him online to mongrel dogs. According to the broadcaster, his online critics were themselves incapable of producing Saint Bernards, and so they barked instead.
