Irish singer Hozier has condemned homophobic and sexist comments made by Ukrainian ballet dancer Sergei Polunin. The dancer appears alongside Hozier in his latest music video ‘Movement’.

The Bray singer was notified of comments made by Polunin on Instagram back in January. In it, the dancer, who is a vocal supporter of Vladimir Putin, launched a homophobic and misogynist rant that suggests that female dancers are performing masculine roles on stage, because male dancers will not sleep with them.

Polunin wrote:

“Man up to all men who is doing ballet there is already ballerina on stage don’t need to be two. Man should be a man and woman should be a woman. Masculine and Feminine energies create a balance. There’s a reason you got balls.”

The post, which has since been removed from Instagram, concludes by the dancer appearing to incite violence against feminine men:

“Stop being weak, be a man, be a warrior, what’s wrong with you???? No respect for you, life will beat you down, put you on your knees and wash you out. Need a good slap to wake you up. Unbelievable!”

In an interview with The Independent, Hozier called the views expressed by the ballet dancer as “troubling” and ‘fucking depressing”.

Hozier told the newspaper:

“I don’t have personal relationship with the man, but a lot of what he’s been saying is pretty out there.

“When you bring someone into your art, there’s a sense of trust and belief that they understand where you’re coming from.

“So to see all of that was really deflating.”

Hozier continued:

“For somebody with such artistic potential – I was struck by the vision he has and his dedication to his work – for him to be hijacked by this strange cultural war, it’s really saddening.

“I offered a nod to his work with my work, as something I felt was coming full circle.

“When you do that, you’re bringing somebody in, in a very personal way. So it’s very fucking depressing.”

Hozier’s track – which features Polunin – was released last November. Additionally, Polunin danced to ‘Take Me To Church’ in a video directed by David LaChapelle in 2015. 

Hozier’s latest album ‘Wasteland Baby!’ has just reached the number one position in the US Billboard charts on its first entry.