Flamboyant faux-fur wearing fashionista, reality TV star, quote machine and oh-by-the-way top flight U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir was back at it Wednesday. No, not skating. Talking.
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Weir decides to speak up after all
- February 24, 2010 10:47 PM |
- By Erin Valois
Story provided by
By Brian Hutchinson, National Post
VANCOUVER -- Flamboyant faux-fur wearing fashionista, reality TV star, quote machine and oh-by-the-way top flight U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir was back at it Wednesday.
No, not skating. Talking. Which should not surprise, since that is one of the things the 25-year-old does very well. Except he promised that he'd said his piece already, after stone-aged TV sports commentators made cruel and insensitive remarks about him last week.
Weir raises eyebrows and stimulates discussion wherever he goes, thanks mostly to his saucy tongue and effeminate style sense. After he'd completed his wispy but solid, sixth-place free skate program last week, a pair of Quebec broadcasters cracked sophomoric questions about his masculinity. They also called him a "bad example" to his sport, which is balderdash.
Some Aussie TV types made similar innuendoes. The predictable result: a mild uproar, and cries of homophobia from gay advocates and the queer press. But by week's end, apologies were made by Quebec-based RDS, which called its comments "tactless" and by the Aussies, too. As for Weir, he seemed to have moved on.
"Every little boy should be so lucky as to turn into me," he told Australian TV network Channel Nine, on Sunday. "And that's all I have to say about that."
But it wasn't. Early Wednesday, reporters received this bulletin: "Johnny Weir will be responding to reporters who made derogatory comments during his free skate."
In the late afternoon, the skater marched into the International Media Centre below Robson Square. His timing could have been better; he showed up minutes before the start of a much-hyped Canada-Russia men's hockey match. He wore tight black jeans, a black top and a fake fur stole. "Welcome to my very special press conference," he quipped. "I grew my beard out a little just to show that I'm a man."
The event switched willy-nilly from serious, to satire, to farce and back. Weir explained that he had called the press conference to say, again, he didn't like his gendered to be questioned. More important, he said, "I don't want more boys and girls to endure that type of [name calling]."
He can forgive those Québécois; he just wishes they would think before they speak. "If we sat down together over a poutine, I think we'd be lovely with each other."
A local celebrity interviewer who calls himself Nardvar the Human Serviette approached a microphone and launched non sequiturs about vacuuming and cutting cheese. Weir laughed it up. Turns out he is a vacuuming enthusiast. "I literally vacuumed her condo before we got here," he said, pointing to a friend. "It's like a stress reliever."
No one seemed willing to ask the big question. Finally, a trans-gendered reporter stood and waved at it, at least. Might there not be some benefit to being more explicit about, er, you know, it?
Weir understood. "The reason I am not more explicit about who or what I sleep with is because I think it doesn't matter."
Message understood. Probably it was worth repeating.
About the Author
- Bruce Arthur Bruce Arthur is the National Post's national sports columnist. A Vancouver native, he has been with the Post since 2001, and a columnist since 2005. He is covering his second Olympics, after the 2008 Games in Beijing. He expects these Games to be slightly less propagandistic, and for China to win slightly fewer medals.
- Joe O'Connor Joe O'Connor is a roving sports feature writer with an open-ended beat. He joined the National Post in 2002, and has spent the past seven years bouncing from sport to sport, offering fresh perspectives and delivering unique stories wherever he goes. Whether it has been getting Don Cherry to open up about his love life; George Chuvalo to talk about heartbreaking loss; or racing down the side of a mountain with former Crazy Canuck, Dave Irwin, the veteran Postie chases a story wherever it leads. Before joining the newspaper he was a two-time silver medalist at the National Magazine Awards. Vancouver will be his first Olympics.
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