Weir says he'll wear faux, not fox fur, after receiving 'threats'
The Canadian Press
By Nancy Armour (CP)
Animal rights groups can leave Johnny Weir alone now.
Weir will replace the fox on his costume with faux fur after receiving “hate mail and death threats” from animal rights activists, agent Tara Modlin said Thursday.
“He’s changing it because he needs to focus on skating,” she said.
Friends of Animals posted an open letter to Weir after he added white fox fur to the left shoulder of his free skate costume for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. On Tuesday, the animal advocacy group called his costume designer, Stephanie Handler, and faxed a press release about its open letter to her business.
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12 Comments
On January 28, 2010, Edith Kraemer wrote:
HE IS SUCH A weirdo with all his peculiar costumes, the thought probably never entered his mind that he may be doing something wrong. I am not a fan of winter Olympics (not much of summer ones either) and I would not root for him anyway.
On January 28, 2010, wendy wamser wrote:
How will we really know it’s fake?
FoA comments:
How did we really know it was real? Weir told us. But, it’s not possible to know for sure, but just imagine if he got caught lying.
On January 28, 2010, Peter Hood wrote:
I doubt Mr. Weir got very much “hate” mail as he claims. He is moving on to faux fur because of Ms. Feral’s letter, and the renewed attention he realizes will follow from mainstream animal rights groups who refuse to accept his weak and stunningly selfish excuses. Mr. Weir is looking for sponsors, and he knows that growing controversy on this issue will impede that. Rumblings were beginning that viewers would begin to boycott sponsors who ran commercials on his upcoming reality series, among other problems. Bravo to Ms. Feral and FoA, who have quickly accomplished at least a partial resolution to this offensive man’s boorishness. Frankly, faux fur is not the answer: glorifying animals as clothing, even if faked, is unfortunate.
On January 29, 2010, Dustin Rhodes, Friends of Animals wrote:
Like you, Peter Hood, I don’t believe he received death threats from animal advocates; IF he received threats, I would bet they were from the people defending the use of fur—-in an effort to divert the attention away from the real issue: the animals who suffer and die in vain for human vanity. I am, however, glad Johnny Weir had a change of heart. Maybe it’s only a step in the right direction, but a good step nonetheless.
On January 29, 2010, Maryanne Appel wrote:
Weir is quoted as saying that there are other causes that concern him more [than the morality of wearing fur] such as homelessness, soldiers dying and the devastation in Haiti.
Animal rights activists do not deny human suffering while educating the public about the truth behind the fur industry: Human and animal issues are not exclusive of each other.
Activists with whom I work are deeply concerned about everything that Weir claims as his own: homelessness, working towards a peaceable world (the only way to stop soldiers from dying), and alleviating the devastation in Haiti. What the true animal rights activist seeks is an end to oppression, whether human or nonhuman.
There will never be peace in this world if justice is promised to some and denied to others.
On January 29, 2010, leigh christensen wrote:
I do a lot of animal rescue and believe we need to change the laws in many areas of animal protection. However, it is not illegal to wear fur or leather or eat meat and frankly I believe it is wrong to harass someone or try to make them out to be some kind of trash for doing so. He did nothing wrong. If someone wants to wear a fur coat, it is their right. Work on changing the laws and stop picking on the easy targets. THAT is WRONG
FoA comments:
Before changing laws, you first have to change minds and hearts. Laws reflect our beliefs of what is right or wrong. It’s backwards to say our beliefs reflect what laws define as right and wrong. Weir was wrong to wear fur.
On January 29, 2010, Ellie Maldonado wrote:
I too wouldn’t put it past those who promote animal products to make threats in the name of “animal rights activists”.
Friends of Animals’ open letter to Weir is not “harassment”.
If Weir wants to be a celebrity, he’ll have to engage public opinion. Friends of Animals is right to speak for the fox that was part of his costume.
On January 29, 2010, Priscilla Feral wrote:
To set the record straight: It’s well known that Friends of Animals does not encourage or condone “scary, threatening” anything: the Open Letter we sent to Johnny Weir through his publicist speaks for itself. That’s what we signed. That’s what represents Friends of Animals. The publicist is trying to change the subject, and when questioned by a reporter today admitted she could not produce the so-called e-mail evidence that blamed FoA for “scary, threatening” e-mail. That makes Weir’s agent a liar. Desperate, too.
Congratulations, Friends of Animals supporters. Thanks to
everyone who defended freedom for Arctic foxes and other animals coveted by the fur industry — those animals who could otherwise live full, free lives.
Priscilla Feral, President
Friends of Animals
On January 29, 2010, jean larson wrote:
It’s an opinion only that it’s wrong to wear fur.
FoA comments:
And that’s only your opinion.
On January 29, 2010, Ellie Maldonado wrote:
Wearing fur violates a fundamental moral tenet that prohibits gratuitous harm.
On January 30, 2010, Greer Ashton wrote:
Caring for animals and Homo sapiens is not mutually exclusive!
To leigh christensesn - how would you view a law that allowed religious sacrifice of babies? Ms. Feral is correct, you’ve got it backwards….
On February 1, 2010, Henry Greenberg wrote:
Weir has made the public statement that he will wear faux, instead of genuine fox fur in his free skate program at the Vancouver Olympics this coming February. However, what he has said to the press, could be quite different than what he actually does at the Olympics. Whereas his agent is suspect of telling lies to the press, Weir might likewise do the same. Weir has had a fetish for animal fur for several years. Now at this Olympics he thinks that he has a chance for a medal and he wants to do everything possible to enhance his free skate performance. Furthermore, at the Olympics there will be no formal or informal inspection process to test the fur in Weir’s free skate costume. And the U.S. Olympic Committee is under no obligation what so ever to enforce any regulation that could prohibit Weir from including genuine fox fur in his costume. In addition, Weir will not be subject to any testing of his costume to confirm the use of genuine fox fur. So Weir literally is free to do anything he wants to do regarding his costume. Weir can wear genuine fox fur in the tuft of his left shoulder of his free skate costume, and when asked about it at a press conference, Weir could simply lie about it and say that his costume is made entirely of faux (false) fur. Or, Weir could bring two costumes to the Olympics — wear the one containing real fox fur during his free skate program; but at a press conference he would show an identical looking costume that contained only synthetic (man-made) fur. Or, he could wear a costume for skating that for which the white tuft on his left shoulder was made from 75% synthetic faux fur, and 25% genuine fox fur. So at the press conference Weir could use a scissor to cut off a piece of the synthetic faux fur and give it to U.S. Olympic officials to have it tested. Therefore, Weir has several options which could enable him to break his promise to wear a costume which totally lacks genuine fox fur. I think Weir is going to consider all these options, and in the end give in to his fur fetish and break his promise to wear a fur-free skate costume which totally lacks genuine fox fur.