NBC’s Johnny Weir is still gay and fabulous in Olympic figure skating
Johnny Weir flirted with being out as a gay Olympic figure skater. Now for NBC, he's gay as Gucci sunglasses and a Hello Kitty doll. The post NBC’s Johnny Weir is still gay and fabulous in Olympic figure skating appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
Johnny Weir has been an out gay man in Olympic figure skating now for 20 years.
I say 20 years, despite him finally saying “I’m gay” publicly just 15 years ago, because of everything Weir has been.
At the 2006 Winter Olympics, when Johnny Weir became a household name, he won over the crowd with his artistry on the ice at a time when scoring in the sport was moving more and more toward athleticism.
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Johnny Weir brought glitz and glam before there was Adam Rippon and 2022’s trove of out gay Olympic figure skaters.
Wearing an outfit shaped like a swan that he called “Camille,” Weir was gorgeous on the ice
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He finished 5th in those Olympics for the men’s singles, following that up four years ago with a 6th place finish in 2010 behind American rival and (much more straight) Olympic champion Evan Lysacek.
Outsports wrote after Weir was left off the 2006 medal podium that it felt to many like Weir was robbed of an Olympic medal. If it were today, both and Lysacek very well may have shared a team event medal, with Americans also taking an ice dance silver medal.
Johnny Weir was gay at the Olympics before he ‘came out’
Off the ice, Johnny Weir didn’t hide being gay, while at the same time not saying the words.
When he appeared for an NBC spot highlighting him, producers played with the speculation and Weir’s “flamboyant” personality, titling the segment “He’s Here, He’s Weir,” clearly playing off the LGBTQ-rights chant.
Weir wouldn’t be put in a box, appearing in his own documentary in Gucci sunglasses and cuddling with Hello Kitty. It seemed all along Johnny Weir was saying, “How gay can I get without you all just accepting that’s who I am?”
I argued at the time that Weir was totally out, but since he didn’t say the words at the time, Outsports still mostly couched our coverage of him.
True to form, he talked openly about now bowing to others’ expectations.
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Moment #31: NBC plays along with Johnny Weir and his sexuality
Johnny Weir played with innuendos that he’s gay at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where he made a name for himself via NBC.
“I’m not out there to be a puppet for anyone. … For now, my critics can eat it. I want people to remember me as someone that pushed the envelope, pushed the boundaries of the [he makes an air quotes move with his hands] ‘United States figure skating establishment.’ … I’m happy with who Johnny Weir is.”
Now a hugely popular and successful figure skating commentator for NBC at the Milan Winter Olympics, Weir is still turning heads with his fashion choice. And that’s just how he likes it.
With his broadcast partners Tara Lipinski and Terry Gannon, the trio is guiding everyone through a Winter Olympics to remember for Team USA.
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The post NBC’s Johnny Weir is still gay and fabulous in Olympic figure skating appeared first on Outsports.
