Flamboyant Skater Has Fur Problems

Johnny Weir, the skater whose wardrobe inspired at least one outfit in the "Blades of Glory" movie, has run afoul of the anti-fur folks:

US figure skater Johnny Weir is staying at the Olympic village because he is concerned about his safety after receiving what he considers "very serious threats" from anti-fur activists.

Weir 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.

"All those crazy fur people definitely changed my mind," said the former world bronze medalist.

"Security wise, staying in a hotel would be very difficult. There have been threats against me. Threats of harming me personally, so I didn't want to get hurt.

"So I decided to stay in the village and my team has made it as comfortable as possible. I don't want any outside influences to hurt my chances here."

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.

And this from a "Blades of Glory" trivia site:

In a website online, Johnny Weir comments on the fact that Jimmy and he have the same style. The peacock outfit was actually based on Weir's swan outfit from the 2006 Winter Olympics (pictured below). Both of the costumes incorporated the skaters' arms as the necks and the hands as the beaks of the birds. 'Jon Heder (I)' apparently made an offhand suggestion and was surprised to find that the costume was being created for him (also below).

Weir's last venture to the Olympics in 2006 didn't turn out that well. You can read that story in an old post of mine here.