'10
I know it seems like we’ve got a lot of gay-issued themed posts today (see this and this and this – haha, I got you to click on Mel Gibson!), but this one I just had to do. Because this one is about my gay boyfriend Johnny Weir. Apparently, Weir is not good enough to appear on “Stars on Ice”. Not that he can’t ice skate – I mean, the bitch can ice skate! No, Johnny’s problem seems to be that he’s viewed as “not family friendly”. Because, you know, he’s Johnny “I rock the pink tassel” Weir and apparently people who pay to go to ice skating tours don’t realize that many of these men are gay? Here’s more from Gawker:
That would be ironic. GLAAD says the Lady Gaga-loving Olympian was excluded from the money-raking figure skating tour because he is “not family friendly.” GLAAD blogger Lauren Mattia writes, “GLAAD has learned from a source that wishes to remain anonymous that sponsors of the Stars on Ice Tour, which include Smuckers and IMG Entertainment, have refused to allow 3-time US National Champion and 2-time Olympian Johnny Weir to participate because they claim that he is “not family friendly.”
“To say that Weir is “not family friendly” would be a clear jab at his perceived sexual orientation. Weir is extremely involved with his family. He is putting his younger brother through college, and supports the family financially because his father’s disability prohibits him from working. [...] Weir’s performance and costume style is sometimes considered flashier than those of other skaters, leading to questions about his perceived sexual orientation.”
GLAAD’s post doesn’t specify whether Weir was invited or had an interest in joining the Stars on Ice tour, which will feature teammate and Olympics gold medalist Evan Lysacek, no-longer-competing Sasha Cohen, and Japan’s Miki Ando. Weir has said he’s taking a break from performing to train privately, and has yet to comment on GLAAD’s claim. Stars on Ice also has yet to comment, though we’ve invited their spokeswoman (and Johnny’s) to comment.
[From Gawker]
This isn’t the first controversy regarding people’s reactions to Weir’s perceived sexuality. During the Olympics, Canadian commentators made “jokes” about how Weir was probably a woman, after which Weir gave one of the most brilliant press conferences about his (or anyone else’s) sexuality ever. Weir basically told the world, “Look, I am who I am, I’m not out to censor anyone or get anyone fired, but this isn’t cool because there are kids out there who need to grow up in a world where they feel safe to be who they really are.”
Now, as for the actual issue of Weir appearing on “Stars on Ice”… well, we don’t even know if Weir would want to go. He’s been popping up all over the place lately, and he’s definitely going to be around as a “celebrity” for a while, I think. There was some talk over at Gawker that Weir might make more money if he does European and international gigs, rather than just skate stateside, but I have no idea about those markets. We’ll see. Honestly, I’m fully expecting him to begin designing clothes and show up in a Lady Gaga music video any day now.
UPDATE: Johnny Weir has confirmed the speculation, telling Access Hollywood (via Towleroad): “It’s for real. All because I am not family friendly enough. I understand I am a little outrageous but I wish I could perform for the fans…Maybe right now, just artistically and creatively, I’d love to have my own show, with musical acts, like maybe getting Lady Gaga! I don’t like to think there are any boundaries. Anytime you get men in glitter it’s flamboyant!” Bless his heart. I love him for his positivism. If I was Weir, I would have been like, “Dude, we’re ice skaters. All of us love glitter and sparkles and being fabulous, that’s why we became ice skaters! And if that isn’t family friendly, then you need to suck my big glittery d-ck.”
Johnny Weir at the Independent Spirit Awards on March 5 and the Elton John post-Oscar party on March 7, 2010. Credit: WENN.
Written by Kaiser
Posted in Gay Issues, Johnny Weir
- TV Shows that outstayed their welcome [Pajiba]
- Goopy and Cameron Diaz went to a Coldplay concert [Lainey Gossip]
- The bacon milkshake! [D-Listed]
- Ashanti looks... good? [Go Fug Yourself]
- 20 great songs under 2 minutes [Fark]
- Snooki and J-Woww on notice [IDLYITW]
- Jennifer Aniston through the years [Popsugar]
- Kirsten Dunst looks so pretty here [Evil Beet]
- Mila Kunis without makeup [Celebslam]
- The awful cover letter all of Wall St. is mocking [Gawker]
53 Responses to “Johnny Weir is “not family friendly” enough for ‘Stars on Ice’ (update)”
Leave a Reply
By commenting you agree to our comment policy
Use the "Report this comment as spam or abuse" link to ask the moderators to delete a comment if it's offensive. If your comment disappears, it may have been eaten by the spam filter. Please e-mail cbcomments at gmail.com to get it retrieved.
Get an icon next to your name by signing up for a free Gravatar
Kaiser: you melrolled us!
The level of femininity expressed by Weir is only a hair more, if that, than any other male skater, IMO.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Now if only the National Enquirer would start a rumor that he’s straight!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Yes, Lots of gay today on celebitchy..LOL..
Report this comment as spam or abuse
“He is putting his younger brother through college, and supports the family financially because his father’s disability prohibits him from working.”
This, I did not know. He just keeps being awesome, more and more every day. What an adorable sweetie.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
ITA with you Trillion!!
I honestly thought it was a prerequisite for male figure skaters to be gay..
PS. I’m kidding – Don’t hate!
I love this man!! I wish him all the best. Fuck Stars on Ice if this is true…
Report this comment as spam or abuse
god, he is just so pretty! love him!!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
It’s just me or does Chloe Sevigne looks like him?
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I hate to say it, but I can see the “Why’s” of this.
Not slamming the guy, and I do think he can skate like no other.. but I can see why.
And no, I am not hating on anyone, or any lifestyle choices.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I need to know what skin products he uses because his complexion is FLAWLESS. I’m freakin’ jealous.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Wait.
I don’t actually understand why. Do they think there’s no little gay boys going to see Stars on Ice? No gay parents? No lesbian dates? That it’s a straight event?
Since when is it okay to segregate performers? Or is the ice skating world taking some kind of cue from the Military. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and we’ll let you on OUR ice.
Fuck them. I’m so going off to write a nasty ass letter…
Report this comment as spam or abuse
LOL @lil – YES.. in the second picture he looks exactly like her (the face part obviously)…
He’s just so pretty!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
You have to be really gay to be too gay for ice skating!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
@MymaJane: *snickers* my dirty mind went places it shouldn’t have..LOL.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with a dirty mind, Ms. Newmar!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
He has beautiful green eyes!!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Not Family Friendly? What are they affraid he’s going to do, have a gang-bang on the middle of the rink with the other skaters? Morons.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
@ JulieNewmar
Yes, I’m sure many *ahem* facials keep his skin glowing.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I think the term “family friendly” is so offensive when referring to the imagined threat that is gay people. Like gay people don’t have families and friends or are some parasites ready to infect ‘normal’ families. It’s so gross, bigoted, and completely irrational.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Oh, surprise!
Someone makes another talented individual the object of discrimination just because of their sexuality. What a shock! I mean, it’s not like we’re living in a world where ignorant, primitive and fanatical bigots are a species facing extinction, is it?
It’s too bad for Johnny Weir, who is a wonderful skater, that ‘Stars On Ice’ would fear for the safety of families because… Is there even a valid reason? Oh yes, he might actually throw his gayness at them, and make them suffer a homosexual contagion!
Some people are such imbeciles.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
@Trillion… LOL
@Snarf… a gang bang on ice would be a show I would pay to see! hehehee
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Johnny makes a career out of courting drama. Outrageous quotes designed to have people talking about him. He enjoys it, which is fine and entirely his right. That doesn’t mean every employer wants to put up with it. Not every employer wants to deal with somebody who is a wildcard at every news conference in every city on the tour. That’s their right, too.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
At 1st I didn’t care for this guy. I found him vain, but i saw an HBO special on him and his family and his upbringing. His family is one of the most supportive I’ve ever seen and they are fairly grounded
What interested me was that his father & mother were the Highschool football star and Cheerleader out in Middle America with middle American values and they were determined to raise their kids with as much artistic freedom and expression as possible.
THAT IS FAMILY FRIENDLY
Report this comment as spam or abuse
@Shane No you don’t have to be really gay, you have to be unapologetically gay.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
That’s shameful. Homophobia disgusts me.
Well, I hope they fail miserably and that people just choose not to go anymore.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
RobN, you mean “outrageous quotes” intended to “court drama” like:”I hope more kids can grow up the same way that I did and more kids can feel the freedom that I feel to be themselves and to express themselves”??? Hm.
Oh, wait, maybe you meant this: “Last night I was nervous, so I Pledged everything,” he said. “Some people eat, some people drink, some people smoke. I Pledge.” No, that can’t be it.
So did you mean because he’s gay, or because he wears fur sometimes? Because I don’t think that using the word crazy to describe people who’ve sent you death threats is inflammatory, actually, and that’s the worst I can find.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Dude, thats the first thing I notice when I see him too! They are a beautiful color! And Im quite sure they arent contacts. Add a quick brush of mascara and the effect is quite stunning. Now only if I could get my man to wear mascara with his green eyes…….
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Geez,What is the big deal? It’s 2010, people get over it.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Princess Pea, what I meant were quotes such as “His was like a vodka shot and a snort of coke kind of thing. Uh, sorry for all the drug references.”
You really think that’s the kind of quote a business wants its employees to make at the press conference in every town they perform in? Do you think that a company wants PETA screaming outside every venue when parents are trying to walk in with their kids because Johnny enjoys ticking them off with comments about wearing fur?
Johnny likes to rev people up and say the outrageous. I actually like that about him, but then again I’m not the one risking millions of dollars to run a skating show.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
i agree with many comments on here… homophobia is so ugly
@Marky Mark, thank you for telling us about the HBO special, will definitely watch this weekend!
i just love this kid!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I heart him so hard. I want him to be my gay boyfriend. Him and Austin Scarlett from season one of Project Runway. I want a gay entourage. A girl’s gotta dream big *sigh*
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I’m going to see Stars on Ice for the first time ever next month, and was SO bummed that Johnny Weir isn’t on the tour. I don’t wanna see old washed up Michael Weiss! I wanna see Johnny!
I caught a few episodes of his Sundance show “Be Good Johnny Weir” and have completely fallen in love with him. He’s very passionate about his craft, adores his family, is a clean freak like me. LoL He has buckets and buckets of fans, so obviously his personality, sexual orientation, etc aren’t alienating skating lovers like me. Judging by the line-up I’ll be seeing in my area, Stars on Ice needs a dash of Johnny spice!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Is this guy channeling Rufus Wainright much?
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I agree with Robyn. This guy is despised in the gay community. Every gay man I’ve talked to (and some on message boards)think he is a silly queen and overly flaming, giving gays a bad rap. Being that he’s kind of weak in the looks dept. doesn’t help.
Oh, and save it ya fag hags. Johny boy here would try to steal your man just to prove he could and probably secretly refers to women as ‘fish’. So there!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Fag hagness is my life and I live in SF. All the gays I know love Johnny. And a lot of the gays I know call women Fish. So what. I call them Queers and call myself a Fag Hag. Whatevs.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Scott Hamilton owns the Stars on Ice tour. Yeah, the same Scott Hamilton who commentated for the Olympics and was such a cheerleader for Evan Lycecek. Because he had already hired Evan for the tour. He slanted his commentary at nationals the same way for Sasha because she’s the tour’s female headliner. He hired Alissa Ciznay and she didn’t even make the Olympic team. Other skaters (Russians, Europeans) rarely get hired anymore either. You have to be white, American and non-contraversial to get a job on Stars on Ice. Johnny doesn’t stand a chance. It’s our loss, I’d say.
Pretty ironic that there’s a Stars on Ice ad in the upper right corner of this site’s home page.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
How can Evan practice/perform for the ice show and DWTS at the same time? There’s another tour called Champions on Ice that Johnny might do or he had no intention of doing any show.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I hate generalized comments like “every gay man” and “giving gays a bad rap”. If those are the gay men that you have talked to they need an education. I am gay. As a gay man, it is important to recogize that weather you are a fey waif or a big butch daddy, you are both in the same boat and you need to be accepting of who he is. It is also because of men like me who have been out there and open and have been in the gay pride marches in the midwest and the marriage marches here in so cal, that we have a face and a voice. I don’t read gay initally on the street if I don’t want to, I am a big man, and no one has ever fu*ked with me. But I will always stand up and be counted and back up any fem little boy, because I know what it’s like to not be accepted at school and to hide who I am and I am so glad that these guys growing up today feel comfortable enough with themselves to not hide. And they in turn are paving the way for future generations to be even more accepting of our differences.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Peach:
“Family Friendly” usually always mean straight, god-fearing folk. See also, NASCAR.
Re: Evan Lycecek, thanks to Michael K, he’ll always be “The Villainess” to me.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
This is so upsetting. Johnny is a huge revenue pull, I think it’s a horrible decision purely for business reasons to kick him out, to say nothing of the message that they’re sending. Remind me never to go to Stars on Ice, or take my kids to it when I have them.
I would never take my children to a place that excludes people based on their sexual orientation, race, gender, etc. That’s not family friendly at all, it’s hateful and bigoted and I certainly wouldn’t want my children exposed to such a discriminatory organization.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
This is just ridiculous…He is an amazing skater.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I guess this whole convo is about “gay” because a group (maybe? Confirmation?) Decided to label someone as not “family friendly”. That blows.
I wish we didn’t even have to think about this brilliant, hysterically funny, talented artist as anything but just who he is and what his art is and the way he’s expressing it.
This entire thread is disappointing me the same way all the talk about Obama, our first Black president, the first Black to run the first black to x the first black to y….
If you don’t like him for his flamboyance, his tassles, his whatever… Fine. Your perrogative. But because you assume… Or you want to like and support him for being gay? Wrong.
I LOVE HIM. And its for that wildly creative flair. Gay, straight, queen, fag hag, black white WHATEvAH. But shit. When are we going to get past it and just like a guy or not for what his art is upon which we are supposedly judging?
Ugh.
I’m writing stars on ice too (because I’ll just go ahead and assume what I read here is true ;o)
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I’ve never ever seen this guy before but he looks like a wax figure.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Beth -
Champions on Ice went out of business a few years ago. Unfortunately it’s Stars on Ice or nothing.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
He’s putting his younger brother through college? That’s it, I’m officially smitten!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
i love this man. i would have actually watched this show just for him.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
That’s all well and good but he is just a silly person. Sorry, but he is. Silly and not good looking. I’ll pass.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I guess maybe he should have considered the consequences of his outspokeness, huh? That’s the way the world is, dude. It’s not like he hasn’t known all along that his market niche is a narrow one. There are lots of good skaters. Hey – here’s an idea. Get a real job.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
He is a tool and not attractive.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
What a great decision! Stars on Ice is simply trying to protect all the little kiddies from catching the gay from the dirty queens on ice (which’d actually be a great name for the gangbang Johnny wants to have)! I know I’d be straight if I hadn’t foolishly been to an ice skating event when I was young.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Loves him. Boy’s got style. If that makes me a fag hag, so be it. I guess this confirms Rupert Everett’s view that if you’re gay in Hollywood, you’d better shut up or you’ll marginalize yourself. Also, hate to indulge in stereotypes, but who’d have thunk a male ice skater would be gay? Next thing you know, they’ll be saying the same of interior decorators and fashion designers. The only thing Johnny needs to do exceptionally well is skate, and he does. To require that he be a straight boy too is sheer prejudice.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I think it’s a bit of a leap to say they’re blackballing him because he’s gay. A lot of male skaters (if not most) are gay, and quite a few of them have been totally public about it over the years. His tendency to bring heated, negative public attention is more likely the reason…though it might make everyone who loves watching him (and I’m one of these) feel better to blame the mean bad redneck NASCAR people and say it’s “just because he’s gay.” It’s more than that, and anyone exercising just a little bit of perspective could see that. I love Johnny Weir, and I have no doubt that if he were to meet with my little 6 year-old, he would be charming and she would adore meeting him. In that respect, he’s family friendly. Nonetheless, I don’t think he’s cut out for a working environment that requires constant child-friendly publicity. He’s way too sassy and impolitic to keep things G-rated all the time. That is the reality. I love him for it, but it’s the reality. I’m not worried about him. He’s gonna be great and find his way doing something else we can worship him for.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Well they’re idiots. I can’t stand ice skating, however, if Johnny came to my town I’d pay just to see him.
Oh well their loss. Johnny Weir rocks and frankly he needs his own show (why did Be Good Johnny come to an end?!?! Why!?!?!). Plenty more people (like me who don’t care much about ice skating, so don’t care about the other skaters) would pay just to see him.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Criminal Minds/CSI/Entourage the 3 shows I could watch all day!
Report this comment as spam or abuse