My article at Metro Weekly on the Johnny Weir-Stars on Ice issue, which GLAAD has been heavily pushing, notes the questions that remain:
On Friday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the Smuckers Stars on Ice Tour denied allegations made by both U.S. Olympian Johnny Weir and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation that he has been kept out of the tour because he is ”not family friendly.”
Jennifer Cosgrove, a spokeswoman for Stars on Ice, responded to GLAAD, writing in a statement released to Metro Weekly, ”We are disappointed that there is untrue and inaccurate information being disseminated. Please be assured that the ‘gender identity and sexual orientation’ of cast members has never been a consideration in the selection of tour performers.”
In a posting at the GLAADBlog on Thursday, March 11, updated after its initial posting to reflect that an anonymous source had shared the information with GLAAD, the media watchdog reported: ”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.”’
Weir somewhat confirmed this, repeating the “not family friendly” line to Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush. No one has yet attributed that very specific quotation to any specific individual, which gives me concern. At the same time, and as noted in the article, Stars on Ice — while denying the “untrue and inaccurate information” generally — has not specifically denied the “not family friendly” quote.
If those words were said, I think we should know whether this came from Smuckers, IMG Entertainment or the Stars on Ice Tour people. The distinction is important for a variety of reasons, most notably because people and organizations — most of all, GLAAD — are putting pressure on all three of these entities based on an unattributed quotation from an anonymous source.
I think my biggest concern is that this is coming from the “media watchdog” for the LGBT community as the salacious hook for a very public campaign against a company. Aren’t anonymous, gossipy quotes the very type of thing that GLAAD generally fights against?
Here is the latest from GLAAD, a statement from President Jarrett Barrios:
Johnny Weir is a two time Olympian and three time U.S. champion. Other athletes of his caliber would be granted the opportunity to perform during national tours like Stars on Ice. By choosing not to bring the performances and talent of Johnny Weir to American audiences, Stars on Ice is reinforcing an unfortunate double standard that is too often applied to gay athletes and athletes perceived to be gay.
GLAAD calls on Stars on Ice to invite all eligible figure skaters because today people of all gender expressions and sexual orientations are part of the fabric of our culture. Athletes of Weir’s caliber deserve the same rights to perform on this, and any, tour.
We urge community members to speak out against this apparent double standard and call on Stars on Ice and corporate sponsor Smucker’s to demand equal opportunities for all athletes.
I agree that Weir’s gender expression and sexual orientation should play no role in his invitation to any tour, but I am concerned with the approach being taken by GLAAD on this issue. Thoughts?
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Chris Geidner is the senior political writer at D.C.'s Metro Weekly and has written for The Atlantic Online, Advocate.com, Salon and other publications, as well as at his blog, Law Dork. Prior to moving to D.C. in 2009, he served as an attorney on the senior staff at the Ohio Attorney General's Office and had earlier worked for a leading Columbus law firm. An extended biography can be found
Weir said Stars on Ice has rejected approaches from his agent for several years.
“The reaction I got was that I wasn’t family friendly enough and that came, allegedly, from the sponsors,” Wier told CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/03/12/weir.tour.snub/?hpt=T2
I’m of the belief that the claims originated from Johnny Weir’s message board and an overzealous fan named Katrina who was campaigning to get him on SOI and encountered some difficulty.
Like Weir not winning a medal.
Get some of the back story on this clusterSmuck of a mess here: http://misfitmimes.blogspot.com/
From the blog: “This actually began back in 2008 when Johnny had just won a medal at Worlds–the only American to do so in two years. Stars on Ice posted a poll on their website: “Who would you most like to see on SOI?” Johnny won by an incredible landslide, the poll was promptly removed from the site, and when an explanation was demanded, the “not family-friendly” comment was the response posted on the SOI message board. I do not have a hard copy of that post, but there are plenty of witnesses to it.”
As you note, Johnny Weir also confirmed in multiple interviews yesterday that “not family friendly” is what he has been told for several years.
Please also note that in its official statement posted on Facebook yesterday, Smucker’s Stars on Ice made this point: “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.”
Then they announced that they had added Joannie Rochette, the offical spokesperson for WorldVision Canada, an Evangelical Christian group (http://www.worldvision.ca/Pages/Home.aspx), to the tour.
So they have room for Joannie on the tour, but not Johnny?
Can we expect this from GLAAD tomorrow…
“GLAAD calls on the Washington Post to hire all eligible writers because today people of all gender expressions and sexual orientations are part of the fabric of our culture. Writers of [any gay reporter who hasn't been hired by WaPo]’s caliber deserve the same rights to write for this, and any, newspaper.”