PETA activists get Johnny Weir, Olympic hopeful to change from fox to faux fur. Johnny Weir, Olympic figure skating hopeful replaced the fox on his costume to faux fur after he received several complaints from animal rights activists, according to his agent.
"He's changing it because he needs to focus on skating," Tara Modlin, Johnny Weir’s agent said.
Weir had white fox fur on his left shoulder of his free skate costume for the US figure skating championships, and he received several death threats from animal rights activists after wearing it.
Friends of Animals posted an open letter online and spoke to and faxed a letter to Weir’s costume designer, Stephanie Handler and complained about the costume. Several other animal rights activists followed suit with complaints.
Modlin said that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) made a valid case in a professional manner, but that other animal rights activists were not so professional. They were concerned that it may interfere with Weir’s training for the upcoming 2010 Olympics, so they changed it.
"I do not want something as silly as my costume disrupting my second Olympic experience and my chance at a medal, a dream I have had since I was a kid," Weir said.
"I hope these activists can understand that my decision to change my costume is in no way a victory for them, but a draw," Weir said. "I am not changing in order to appease them, but to protect my integrity and the integrity of the Olympic Games as well as my fellow competitors.
"Just weeks away from hitting my starting position on the ice in Vancouver, I have technique and training to worry about and that trumps any costume and any threat I may receive."
Johnny Weir was the 2004, 2005 and 2006 US National Men's Figure Skating Champion. The 2002 Olympic games were held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Weir was competing in figure skating in 2002, but not on a national level. He did not compete at the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, but did compete at the national and world level in 2004.
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Source: Olympics Fanhouse
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Comments
It would've been nice if you'd included Johnny Weir's ENTIRE quote, which included...
"I would like to announce that due to pressures and threats from a certain animal rights group, I will be changing the genuine fox fur on my free program costume that I will use in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, B.C., to white faux fur. I made this decision after several threats were sent to me about disrupting my performance in the Olympic Games and my costume designer, Stephanie Handler, was repeatedly sent messages of hate and disgust..."
Love animals or hate 'em... There's no excuse for communicating a threat, which I might add, is against the law.
Wow, Sherri. Do you understand the fact that animals are beaten and skinned alive for their fur in many places (mostly China) and that China doesn't have laws against that? You should definitely go do some research, you may be surprised. There's tons of videos on the fur trade, they're extremely sad and heart breaking.
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