Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s remarks about Asian ‘honeypots’ draw online backlash

Pavel Durov, CEO of messaging app Telegram, has come under fire for joking about a lack of non-Chinese ‘honeypots’ after the Jensen Huang controversy. In a post shared on X this morning, the Russian tech entrepreneur quipped that CEOs who are “not into Asian girls get fewer dating options from spy agencies.”Telegram CEO Pavel Durov faced backlash for joking about Asian ‘honeypots’ (Instagram/@durov)Huang, the 63-year-old co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, recently acknowledged his extra-marital affair with a suspected Chinese spy named Alice Huang.(Also read: Jensen Huang’s two children, Madison and Spencer Huang, earn over $1 million each at Nvidia)US intelligence officials believe Alice Huang was recruited Chinese intelligence to get close to the Nvidia CEO and gather information from him, according to a New York Times report. She was also allegedly tasked with influencing Huang to push for fewer restrictions on chip sales to China.Bloomberg reported this morning that Alice Huang has returned to her home country and is currently living in Beijing.Telegram CEO on ‘honeypots’“Unfair that CEOs who aren’t into Asian girls get fewer dating options from spy agencies,” Pavel Durov posted on X this morning, before proceeding to joke about not getting “honeypots” from France, Russia or Iran.In espionage, a honeypot is a person sent to lure a target into a relationship, with the aim of exploiting them for confidential information or leverage.(Also read: Russian-origin CEO of Telegram claims he has over ‘100 biological kids’, reveals how)“Where are the French/Russian/Iranian honeypots? Not one spy girl sent my way. Are they even trying?” joked 42-year-old Durov, who is not married.“France is excused — their decision-makers aren’t into girls. Everyone else: try harder!” he added in a veiled dig at French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron.The Macrons have filed a defamation lawsuit against US podcaster Candace Owens for spreading the false claim that Brigitte Macron was born a man.Pavel Durov draws backlashDurov’s post drew backlash from a section of the internet even as it garnered over 1 million views on X.“Imagine being a jacked, handsome billionaire and still struggling to attract a state-sponsored girlfriend,” wrote one X user.“So this is where humor comes to die,” another wrote.“Pavel, you can make jokes about spy agencies all you want, but don’t talk about Iranian women like that. Iranian women deserve respect, not to be reduced to dating options in your jokes,” read a comment under his post.Some X users posted pictures of Durov with his alleged girlfriend to criticise his comments. “A billionaire with a 10/10 girlfriend, yet he’s still expecting a honeypot from France, Russia, or Iran… It seems like he’s never satisfied. The sunny world of billionaires is unhinged,” one X user wrote.“Nobody sent you a honeypot because your app is completely unimportant garbage,” another said in a direct jibe at Telegram.(Also read: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested in France for ‘offences’ related to app: Report)