Lesley Stahl Has a Hard Time Saying 'Pussy' During 60 Minutes Interview With Pussy Riot Members

One of the women from Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot is living in hiding after she escaped prosecution for protesting Vladimir Putin on the altar of Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral; last night she spoke with Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes while in disguise, wearing a balaklava, the group’s trademark mask. She says she agreed to the interview to let the world know that the band still exists (60 Minutes shot B-roll of some of the members rehearsing), but that she also sees the interview as a form of protest, and hopes the government sees it that way too.

Also interviewed was Katya Samutsevich, one of the three women arrested one year ago during the church protest and found guilty of hooliganism. While her other two bandmates were sentenced to two years of hard labor, Samutsevich—a computer engineer—was released after only seven months because she never actually danced on the altar.

Although Stahl refers to the band members as “idealistic and brave and well-educated” it’s pretty clear that she finds a lot of their tactics distasteful, referring to them as lewd, crude, and juvenile, and scrunching her nose up at their “cussing.” She looked like she just about wanted to die having to say “pussy” on television.