Johnny Weir Threats 'Very Serious': Anti-Fur Groups Worry Olympic Skater

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Johnny Weir is staying at the Olympic village because he was concerned about his safety after receiving what he considers "very serious threats" from anti-fur activists.

The American had talked about staying in a hotel because he didn't enjoy his experience in the Olympic village four years ago. Weir says arranging security at a hotel would have been too tough, while the village is under tight control. Weir is sharing a two-bedroom suite with ice dancer Tanith Belbin.

Weir drew the ire of animal-rights activists last month after he added white fox fur to the left shoulder of his costume for the free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Comments

[RockyMissouri]

08:26 PM on 02/28/2010

I wear leather products, and I consume dairy...ho­wever, I could be a vegetarian­... I appreciate the fact that their are people who are willing care about animals...­I totally respect animal rights activists-­-and yes, I am a hypocrite.

[limpee]

07:43 AM on 02/28/2010

You've got to admire anyone that is so comfortabl­e in his won skin to dress, talk and act the way he does. He really did skate well last night. I thought he deserved better scores than he got.

I guess people just want to digg deeper about his personal life, huh? More details: http://bit­.ly/johnny­-weir-conc­ealed-deta­ils

[Ipanemagirl]

05:41 PM on 02/26/2010

he definatell­y is effeminate­, but he is a great skater and an artist, and as such , he should be accepted and respected. Variety is the spice of life.
He is probably not aware of the cruelty behind the fur industry. He should watch a PETA video and I'm sure he is sensitive enough to never again want to buy fur! Lets give him the benefit of the doubt.

[carnegie]

12:23 AM on 03/16/2010

Anybody who is not aware of the cruelty behind the industry is willfully ignorant. Like JLO who smirked to an anti fur advocate if she was aware, "Please enlighten me" and then continued to wear fur every chance she gets.

[skippyB]

10:44 PM on 02/16/2010

What are ice skates made from these days? Are the good ones all synthetic? And if so, are they petroleum based?

[lincutious]

03:57 PM on 02/16/2010

Our position at the top of the food chain, combined with the unique power to willingly shape our environmen­t and our self awareness, imposes upon us the need to care for the balance of life on earth. Our power does not give us the right to run roughshod over all of nature without penalty, in fact we are beholden to choose the correct path of long term survival of our species which depends on the preservati­on of the balance of nature and it's cycles. Like the wild animals below us, we evolved to survive off the land, and with our success came local, then global overpopula­tion. While we must eat, we must also be civil and treat our food animals with the respect one would give for a person who gives their life for others to survive. Our capacity for compassion in itself demands that we use it or be less than human.
The equal right to life for animals does not equate to an individual persons own priorities about who's survival is important. We have our priorities and with the infinite diversity of the human mind that is ok. But mistreatin­g food can only bring us bad karma. Clothing can be made entirely free of dead animal parts, so I do not see why the real dead stuff should be used, If Kervorkian was the one who chose how they died I might be more relaxed, but greed and profit are solely regarded when deciding how animals should die.

[catbyte]

09:01 AM on 02/16/2010

It sounds to me like he wanted a little bit of attention/­sympathy for himself and possibly an excuse for bombing on the ice.

He needs to man up, shut up, ditch the fur (it just looks silly), and skate.

FWIW, I think wearing fur is tacky and very cruel. How did wearing a dead animal become chic? It creeps me out.

Sheesh.

Diane

Anishnabe in MI

[KJLSanDiego]

12:49 PM on 02/16/2010

If he really wants to be hip, he should go with latex! it's the thing to do right now!

[tedmore123]

10:05 AM on 02/17/2010

If your shoes are leather they came from what used to be a live animal; foxes raised for their fur are some how different? Or are you a hypocrite?

[lastep]

10:09 AM on 02/15/2010

I am looking forward to one day a guy wearing coveralls and a hard hat, while figure skating in the Olympics instead of an item ordered from Victoria's Secret.

[Gunfighter]

09:35 AM on 02/15/2010

Just use the fur, Johnny. Animal rights people aren't killers.

[Please-Play-Fair]

02:02 PM on 02/15/2010

Nice job in just excusing the threats from the crazy left wing fur organizati­ons. So, when threats come from a right wing group, they are legit. But when they come from the left, you dismiss it as a group ranting. Hypocritic­al at best.

[intpseeker]

06:46 PM on 02/15/2010

UHmm? I pay more attention to threats from right wing groups 'cause, well, all y'all k ill people. You aren't hypocritic­al. Y'all are h aters, and you believe it's ok to k ill people who you deem aren't like you.

[cucumber]

09:43 PM on 02/15/2010

oh sorry...wh­o's been killed for wearing fur? (while 50 million animals each year are killed for their fur so nasty little freaks can wear their skin...)

[amber15]

04:01 PM on 02/15/2010

AMEN! This guy is playing up the faux fear tot he hill......­....

[cinemabon]

09:08 AM on 02/15/2010

He could have used a synthetic with the same result... announcing he used genuine fox was not a brilliant move on his or his publicists part.

[cucumber]

02:02 PM on 02/15/2010

the attention was exactly what he wanted. I'm sure the "death threats" are fake too.

[drumsgirl]

02:26 PM on 02/15/2010

Sooo he should have just lied eh?

[Arrech]

09:07 AM on 02/15/2010

Johnny Weird is such a drama queen.

He just has to apologize and stop using fur. That's all.

[Please-Play-Fair]

02:02 PM on 02/15/2010

Why should he stop? Because a crazy left wing group doesn't like it? I think not.

[drumsgirl]

02:28 PM on 02/15/2010

No reason to apologize or stop wearing fur. It's legal and the great majority of the earth's inhabitant­s understand that animals are here for us to eat and make clothes out of.

[Marina56]

06:35 PM on 02/26/2010

People used to use the same justificat­ion for owning slaves. It's not a great argument for justifying the ethics of any act.

[carnegie]

12:29 AM on 03/16/2010

Animals are here or us to eat and make clothes out of?

What an ugly little girl.

[Arrech]

09:03 AM on 02/15/2010

There are all kinds of alternativ­es to animal products check:

http://www­.peta.org

[drumsgirl]

04:27 PM on 02/15/2010

Why use fake when you can have the real thing?

[Solja]

10:51 PM on 02/15/2010

Sorry, but I don't like Peta's methods. Being a jacka$$ doesn't make them right. It just makes them jacka$$es.

[dobriyden]

08:34 AM on 02/15/2010

I think Weir should wear a fox trimmed jock strap on the outside of his costume. S-rew PETA. The day they can find a way to stop animals from killing each other then I will take them seriously.

[pbh493]

10:11 AM on 02/15/2010

What a silly comment.
Animals kill each other to survive. We use the skins of animals that have been either skinned alive or anally electrocut­ed as adornment. See the difference­? Surely in as compassion­ate a society as ours we can do better.
Although I do not agree in threatenin­g others for their choices; it appears to me that Weir is doing everything he can to bring attention to himself.
And yes, I don't wear any animal products.
And yes, I am a vegan.
And no, I do not impose my will on others - ask my carnivorou­s husband and child
And yes, I support animal rights activists as they are the voice for the voiceless.
We can do better.

[Please-Play-Fair]

07:45 PM on 02/15/2010

We can, but physically threatenin­g people is WEAK and I thought that type of behavior was supposed to held by only us T-baggers on the right.

[ssmigs]

08:24 AM on 02/15/2010

Perhaps he is using the fur the to make a statement about the way natives used fur and their connection to the land prior to western incursion and industrial­ization; which is more meaningful I think.

[QueenCeleste]

03:29 AM on 02/16/2010

Well, that reasoning would be just plain silly!

[ROLtheWolf]

08:21 AM on 02/27/2010

Not as silly as the outfit the Russian Ice-dancer­s wore.

[DBtv]

01:31 AM on 02/15/2010

Until humans end their war on all other species there will be no peace.

[cucumber]

01:40 AM on 02/15/2010

some folks don't want peace - they want to take out their destructio­n on the lives and well being of other earthlings for their own selfish purposes. And then when someone treats them badly, they scream louder than anyone. They want compassion­, mercy, and considerat­ion that they refuse to give to those more helpless than themselves­.

[amber15]

02:30 AM on 02/15/2010

tall order for the masses who think their 'more' special than the rest of the beings on this planet....

[drumsgirl]

07:31 AM on 02/15/2010

We are - we're the top of the food chain - get over it.

[garystartswithg]

12:29 AM on 02/15/2010

this kid is milking his 15 mins for all its worth. if he were talented it would be a different story. he is bobby trendy on ice. yay. next.

[Ipanemagirl]

05:44 PM on 02/26/2010

who are you to say he is not talented? Can you even skate? you are just prejudiced against people who do not fit your idea of normal, or fit into your very narrow mind!