Johnny Weir

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Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir is doing some early spring cleaning. He’s opened up his closet and is auctioning off some flamboyant fashions for a good cause.
Auction items including a vintage Chanel jacket (worn when Weir was a judge on Skating With the Stars), various skating costumes from the 2006-2007 Olympic season and a pair of his black Riedell skates will be on the Internet block.
Other brands being auctioned by the luxury consignment site, shoplindasstuff.com, a Philadelphia-based resale company –  includes clothing and accessories by Versace, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana and Balenciaga. The auction starts next Monday (Jan. 7) and goes on for a week. Weir is a native of Coatesville, a town about 45 minutes west of Philly.
But have no fear. Johnny will not be abandoning his peacock status nor his love of designer fashion. He was spotted at the New York Fall 2012 shows of Alice + Olivia, Chris Benz, as well as Betsey Johnson’s Spring 2013 shows.
A portion of the proceeds from his auction will benefit  the Trevor Project, a national nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender  youth.
from The Hollywood Reporter

Johnny Weir

Johnny Weir is ready to give up the fashion shows and the red carpet for another shot at the Olympics.
The popular figure skater said Thursday he was returning to competition with hopes of taking the ice at the 2014 Games in Sochi. Even if it means living what he describes as a “monk”-like life of an elite athlete in training.
“I wanted to do this while I still have the time,” the three-time U.S. champion said at a news conference in Manhattan. “I didn’t want to be 50 years old and look back and say, ‘Oh, those last two years before Sochi and I kind of let them go doing other things.”
Not that he didn’t enjoy doing other things in the two years since last competing at the Vancouver Olympics, where he finished sixth. Makeup modeling, dress designing, reality TV starring.
Weir also came out in an autobiography, “Welcome to My World,” and last month married Victor Voronov.
“That’s very fulfilling and lovely,” the 27-year-old Weir said of his break from training. “It gave me the opportunity to fall in love and get married and build a beautiful life for myself. But going back into competition, it will be so stressful to give up a lot of the extracurriculars and only skate.”
And he is committed to sacrificing those other activities for three hours in the rink each day with coach Galina Zmievskaya along with another 60-90 minutes of training off the ice.
He’s already turned down an invitation to Madonna’s movie premiere next week. Weir will skate at a benefit in Japan in March for victims of last year’s earthquake, but otherwise you’ll mostly find him practicing in Hackensack, N.J.
“I won’t be able to spend Saturday night drinking in a corner booth with my friends,” he said. “I’ll be sleeping.”
He plans to work hard on his quad, the all-important element in men’s skating these days. Not only are all the top men doing quads, but world champion Patrick Chan has two in his free skate.
Weir has tried them in competition but struggled to land them cleanly.
“So I can actually be a real threat and not show up as just kind of a face of figure skating,” Weir said of perfecting the four-revolution jump. “I want to show up and be competitive and actually have people take this seriously. This isn’t a publicity stunt.”
Weir said he hoped to perform to a musical medley of the opera “Carmen” and Lady Gaga. He’s especially popular in Russia, and the chance to compete in the Olympics there played into his decision.
“It would be a perfect ending,” Weir said. “And I will retire after Sochi.”
One of skating’s most popular figures, Weir had never ruled out coming back for Sochi and had been quietly training since the fall. He finished fifth at his first Olympics, the 2006 Games in Turin, and was the bronze medalist at the 2008 world championships.
Weir, who will likely return to competition at a small event in Hackensack at the end of the summer, could have to go through qualifying to earn a spot at next year’s U.S. championships. He said he needed to lose about 8 pounds; choreographer Nina Petrenko recalled that her mother, Zmievskaya, described Weir as being in “awful shape.”
For now.
“He’s very, very disciplined,” said off-ice trainer Fatima Bruhns. “Once he sets a goal, he follows through.”
With Voronov looking on, Weir said his new husband was supportive of the return to competition — and even pushed him toward it.
“I’m very fulfilled,” Weir said. “I’m very happy, and I feel like I have a partner in crime going into all this craziness that’s about to spring on me with the figure skating again.”
from The Associated Press

Johnny Weir

Olympic figure skater engaged to Atlantan
Johnny Weir is getting married to an Atlanta boy. Weir, who rarely discusses his private life, told GA Voice that he has been coming to Atlanta regularly to court his boyfriend.
“My boyfriend, fiancé now, has only recently come out and he’s 28 years old and it’s been an uncomfortable, rocky road for him,” Weir says.
Although Weir is widely known for his flamboyant style, he’s rather reserved in the rest of his life. Weir announced his engagement on Twitter in late October to an Atlanta based lawyer of Russian descent. The Russian connection isn’t surprising considering that Weir is a self-described Russophile.
“We’re a typical relationship that you would see on a sitcom, only we’re two gay men,” Weir says.
While he’s been coming to Atlanta regularly for a while, the New Jersey based skater hasn’t been seen in any of the city’s clubs, and there’s a reason for that.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw the inside of a night club for fun,” Weir says. “We don’t go out at all.”
They do however hit other iconic spots in Atlanta, and the fashion diva has developed a respect for Atlanta’s sense of style.
“I do love how the Atlanta queens will wear high heels all day. I see them in Phipps and Lenox, and I just admire them for that,” he says.
from The GA Voice

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Johnny Weir Gay?

Johnny Weir

Never a fan of labels, Johnny Weir is giving himself one: He’s gay.
The figure skater comes out in his new book, “Welcome to My World,” but said in an excerpt published in the Jan. 17 issue of People magazine that being gay “is the smallest part of what makes me me.”
“I’m not ashamed to be me,” Weir wrote. “More than anyone else I know, I love my life and accept myself. What’s wrong with being unique? I am proud of everything that I am and will become.”
Weir’s autobiography will be released Tuesday. He starts a book tour in New York the same day.
The three-time U.S. champion is one of skating’s most colorful, oversized and popular personalities, and he enjoys challenging convention. He once posed for a photo shoot in a skirt and stilettos, and was targeted by animal-rights activists after adding white fox fur to one of costumes at last year’s U.S. championships.
But he repeatedly avoided questions about his sexual orientation, saying he didn’t want to be defined by labels. After broadcasters on French-language RDS made derogatory comments about Weir’s masculinity during last year’s Vancouver Olympics, the skater again refused to answer the question, saying he wanted people to see him “for who I am, not what I am.”
“All the gay websites couldn’t figure out why I was such a jerk that I wouldn’t talk about it,” Weir wrote. “But pressure is the last thing that would make me want to ‘join’ a community. … The massive backlash against me in the gay media and community only made me dig my ‘closeted’ heels in further.”
Asked why he decided to come out now, Weir told People he never felt he was in the closet. His parents have always supported him, and his sexual orientation is “not an issue” with his family. But Weir knows that isn’t the case for everyone, particularly teenagers.
“With people killing themselves and being scared into the closet, I hope that even just one person can gain strength from my story,” Weir told People.
In his book, Weir said he realized “there was something different about me” as a 6-year-old when he watched “Pretty Woman” and was attracted to Richard Gere. He writes about being picked on by students in middle school after he started skating, and finding a haven at the ice rink.
“By puberty, I knew that I was gay,” he wrote. “But I didn’t worry about it much. As a serious skater, I was way too busy.”
Weir, who is currently in Russia, is taking the year off from competition. But he hasn’t ruled out returning in hopes of making a run at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.
from The Associated Press

Johnny Weir

Johnny Weir is skating over to another network. The ice prince’s docu-series “Be Good Johnny Weir” is heading to Logo for a brand new season.
Weir, who’s currently one of the judges on ABC’s “Skating with the Stars,” is joining Logo’s 2011 slate of programming. The gay-friendly network acquired the show’s first season and will also produce new episodes for a second season, airing later in the year.
In “Be Good Johnny Weir,” cameras follow the 26-year-old, three-time U.S. National Figure Skating Champion and World Medalist as he competes all over the globe, while also diving into his personal life and his growing entertainment ambitions.
Logo will produce 10 new 30-minute episodes of “Be Good Johnny Weir,” which are slated to debut Summer 2011.
“Be Good Johnny Weir” joins other new series set to premiere on Logo, including “Pretty Hurts,” a reality series following the staff and clients of a high-end Beverly Hills medical office, specializing in Botox, and “Setup Squad,” a new docu-series following a Manhattan-based matchmaking service.
“Johnny Weir’s talent is as big as his irreverent personality,” said Logo Senior Vice President of Programming, Dave Mace. “’Pretty Hurts’ would be a workplace sitcom – if it weren’t actually real life in a Beverly Hills beauty destination. And ‘Setup Squad’ will follow the hard-working angels who make the dating world a better place, whether you’re gay or straight.”
Logo’s 2011 schedule includes brand new seasons of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked.” The recent acquisition of “Be Good Johnny Weir” comes after the network’s pickup of “Nip/Tuck,” already airing on Logo, and “Will & Grace,” airing in 2013.
from All Headline News
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Johnny Weir

Claims that Olympian Johnny Weir was not included in the “Stars on Ice” cast because of his sexual orientation are not true, the figure skating tour said.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation started an online petition last week, saying Weir was being excluded from the tour because he was not “family friendly.” Weir has repeatedly avoided questions about his sexual orientation, saying people shouldn’t be defined by labels.
“We are disappointed that there is untrue and inaccurate information being disseminated,” Stars, which is sponsored by Smucker’s, said in a statement. “Please be assured that the `gender identity and sexual orientation’ of cast members has never been a consideration in the selection of tour performers.”
Weir, a three-time U.S. champion, is one of figure skating’s most colorful and oversized personalities, and his popularity soared after his sixth-place finish at the Vancouver Olympics. Tara Modlin, Weir’s agent, said she approached Stars about adding Weir to the cast and was told “not this year.”
Unlike the old “Champions on Ice” tour, where skaters did individual numbers, Stars is more of an ensemble show. Former U.S. champions Todd Eldredge and Michael Weiss have been longtime cast members, and Stars will also feature Olympic champion Evan Lysacek and current U.S. champ Jeremy Abbott this season.
“While Stars on Ice wishes it could accommodate many more talented skaters as part of our cast, the fact is we cannot sign every skater,” the Stars statement said.
Stars on Ice begins its 41-city tour April 1 in Fort Myers, Fla.
from The Associated Press