I, Tonya

[jenniferlyon]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/...an-scandal.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur According to this NYT profile published today, she was paid an initial $1,500 for her rights, with more to follow based on how the film does at the box office.

That amount sounds about right considering the circumstances. Depending on what's in the "more to follow" part of the deal, Tonya could end up with a lot of money or with almost nothing. I do know that the Tonya Tapes book is selling again, but if Tonya was paid a flat fee for her participation then she won't get any royalties off those sales; it will all go to the author.

 

[skatesindreams]

Someone has spent much more than the promised amount on airline tickets, clothes, hair/makeup, etc.
Not to mention "appearance fees".
I'm sure that will continue for some time to come.

 

[meggonzo]

One of the saddest parts of the movie for me was Tonya justifying that Nancy being assaulted wasn't that big of a deal because she was only hit one time, whereas Tonya had to deal with being abused multiple times.

 

[skatesindreams]

Believing that is supposed to create sympathy for her?

 

[meggonzo]

I didn't say that. I just found it sad.

 

[skatesindreams]

My comment wasn't directed at you, meggonzo.

 

[meggonzo]

Well Tonya probably is looking for sympathy. But what was sad to me is that I'm sure that she believes that it's true.

 

[skatesindreams]

That I agree with.

 

[bardtoob]

Here is a clip of skating from I, Tonya posted on the NYT website . . . and . . . OMG!!! THEY NAILED THE SKATING STYLE, PARTICULARLY THE SPINS!

https://www.nytimes.com/video/movies/100000005647087/anatomy-of-a-scene-i-tonya.html?partner=yahoo



. . . However, I can tell that 2Lz is ! or e worthy without even seeing the skating double's feet. There is no counterrotation to speak of. Tonya was always about 10-30 degrees over her LBO edge when she did a 2Lz.

 

[VGThuy]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/...an-scandal.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur According to this NYT profile published today, she was paid an initial $1,500 for her rights, with more to follow based on how the film does at the box office.

Man, what a puff piece. I did find this interesting though:

I told her about the essays I’d read about how we should have been kinder and protected her back then. She doesn’t want to hear it. What do we know about her? We never asked. She doesn’t want anything to do with Sufjan Stevens’s lovely song about her. Did he call her first to talk to her? Did any of those people writing their defenses of her call her up and ask if they could make money using her name? No! “Who gives these people permission to use my name?”

She's tired of people profiting off of her name without her permission or her receiving any of the proceeds, even if they are defending her, praising her, or trying to redeem her. I can see her point though. The skating community profiting off the scandal while she wasn't able to profit in the same way really stung at the time and probably still does now.

 

[Yazmeen]

Well, this is no puff piece:

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/greg-cote/article193973454.html

 

[Inessence]

Well, this is no puff piece:

Not very well researched either.

Cote: Gillooly called Harding the instigator.

From 2014:

We absolutely rode her career. She was the best figure skater—women's figure skater—that ever lived. Still is, in my opinion. We decided to do something really stupid there, and it ruined her. She'll never be remembered for how wonderful a figure skater she was. She'll be remembered for what I talked her into doing. ​

https://deadspin.com/finding-gillooly-what-happened-to-figure-skatings-inf-1482669790

From 2017:

Once Rogers got the life rights, he spent two solid days interviewing Harding. Then he tracked down Harding’s controversial ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly (who now goes by Jeff Stone).​

“I have no idea why he agreed to talk to me, frankly,” Rogers says. “His wife liked some movies I had written, which is ironic because I was trying to move away from that sort of thing.”​

Rogers says he grew to quite like Gillooly. “He wouldn’t take any money for the interview,” Rogers says, “He said, ‘She never would have thought of calling in a death threat, and that’s on me, and I ruined her career.’”​

http://www.mystatesman.com/entertai...ds-way-more-the-facts/4ZEcW8o2bNA0XAM4LQBg8O/

Cote: So there’s Tonya alongside Margot Robbie, who plays her in the film, on the red carpet as the movie world-premiered to swooning reviews in Toronto.

The pair met Tuesday night at the Los Angeles premiere of the film, a dark comedy about the former figure skater's life on and off the ice and her involvement in one of sports' biggest scandals. ​

Cote: Harding admitted to ABC that she knew of the plan to attack her skating rival but did nothing to stop it.

In a new clip released Tuesday from her interview with ABC News’ Amy Robach, Harding maintained that she never agreed to or knew about her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly’s plan to go after Kerrigan, but she admitted, “I did, however, overhear them talking about stuff, where, ‘Well, maybe we should take somebody out so we can make sure she gets on the team.' And I remember telling them, I go, ‘What the hell are you talking about? I can skate.’”

"This was, like, a month or two months before [the attack]," Harding continued. "But they were talking about skating and saying, 'Well, maybe somebody should be taken out so then, you know, she can make it.'"
​

http://abcnews.go.com/US/tonya-harding-knew-infamous-1994-baton-attack-nancy/story?id=52048510

(Cote's above statement is pure conjecture from a promotional sound byte. The interview will not air in its entirety until tomorrow night.)

 

[skatingfan5]

Well, this is no puff piece:

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/greg-cote/article193973454.html

The article won't load on my ancient iPad but just from the headline and brief sentence fragments displayed from a google search I can see that Greg Cote isn't buying what he perceives as the reputation rehabilitation efforts of "I, Tonya."

 

[meggonzo]

Some things I've always wondered about. Note that I have never attended a Nationals so I have no idea about the set-up, design, or access of backstage areas, which I'm guessing is a lot more strict today than it was in 1994. Maybe some of you were at 1994 Nationals and can visualize the areas involved.

How did Shane know exactly where to go in the arena to be able to find Nancy coming off the ice (unless 'someone' told him )?

How did he know exactly when to be there at the exact moment Nancy was coming off the ice?

Was this tunnel exit in a backstage area that only athletes were allowed access too? I'm assuming it had to be near the locker rooms? How was he allowed to be just wondering around in this area if it was? Or was this just like a regular tunnel in the arena that people who go up to their seats use to get to the seats?

As for him being in the building at all, practices were open to the public, right? Did he need a ticket to get in, or could anyone just come in and watch practice? I'm guessing in 1994 the only people who would even know you could do that (or care) would be die hard fans anyway, so there wouldn't exactly be a stampede or anything.

I think all these details are covered in the documentaries from 2014 - ESPN 30 for 30 and the Price of Gold. Or probably in some of the other tv specials throughout the years. It's hard to remember since some of the details keep changing!

 

[ks777]

Why does Tonya always say "enough apologizing" when asked if she ever apologized to her?

 

[VGThuy]

To avoid answering the question because technically she never apologized.

 

[ks777]

I feel she never felt sorry for what her husband and his friends did to Nancy, it seems.. It's almost as if Nancy deserved it from the tone of Tonya's voice.

 

[screech]

To many, apologizing is an admission of guilt (except in Canada, where there is actually a law that an apology does NOT establish guilt), and to this day she maintains that she was not involved in planning the attack. I can understand how Tonya might feel that IF she wasn't directly involved in the planning of the attack, she has nothing to apologize for, that she shouldn't apologize for the actions of others.

 

[VGThuy]

But then she says she's done apologizing which seems to indicate that she did apologize in the past. Nancy publicly said Tonya had never apologized to her. In a sort of brilliant way, it seems Tonya is trying to both take credit for taking responsibility and making amends in the past and is now tired of having to apologize and be stuck in this corner (which is garnering support) while still technically never really apologizing and owning up to it and thus not admitting anything. I think it's working with certain people who want to use her story to make a bigger point.

 

[screech]

I haven't actually heard Tonya's apologies, but someone can easily say "I'm sorry people that I associated with decided to do something horrible," "I'm sorry this happened to her," or "I regret that any of this happened."

To apologize directly to someone, instead of a more 'blanket' statement, seems like it could more easily be taken as admission of being complicit in the events.

 

[Inessence]

Tonya apologized on TV in 1998, “for being around the wrong people...” It’s on YouTube. Kerrigan said more recently Tonya probably *thinks* she apologized but Nancy doesn’t feel like she’s fully owned up to her part. She said the FBI told her “We can’t prove it but we think she was the mastermind of the whole thing.” Of course, the FBI later dropped the case, leaving it to the Multnomah Co. DA’s office to prosecute.

 

[Japanfan]

Tonya apologized on TV in 1998, “for being around the wrong people...” It’s on YouTube. Kerrigan said more recently Tonya probably *thinks* she apologized but Nancy doesn’t feel like she’s fully owned up to her part. She said the FBI told her “We can’t prove it but we think she was the mastermind of the whole thing.”

There was no mastermind behind the incident, just incompetent idiots. As was pointed out by Nancy and in the film, 8th graders could have come up with a smarter plan.

 

[Aussie Willy]

I found it interesting from the article what she received as punishment for what it was she accepted as the penalty.

She was sentenced to three years of supervised probation, 500 hours of community service, a $100,000 state fine, and was tasked with setting up a $50,000 fund to benefit the Special Olympics, reimbursing the Multnomah County prosecutor’s office $10,000 in costs, undergoing a psychiatric examination and participating in any court-ordered treatment. And then there was this: She was forced to surrender her membership to the United States Figure Skating Association. Eventually, the association barred her for life.

I am of the opinion that it was a very long time ago and that maybe while Tonya has moved on, most people haven't. And maybe the punishment listed above was enough to pay for the crime. I am not sure what else people would have liked to have seen.

Yes the film has brought her back into the spotlight. But our response to it says more about us than her.

 

[MacMadame]

And maybe the punishment listed above was enough to pay for the crime.

Except, if you were a skater, would you ever want to compete with her again? What if she decided you were in her way of getting the placements she deserved or contracts with ice shows?

I think the USFS lifetime ban is completely appropriate. There can be zero tolerance for committing violence against a competitor. The other pro skaters banding together to have a clause in their contracts that they won't compete if she's there is also sensible on their part.

If she had ever shown true remorse, I could see them maybe giving her a second chance at some point but she never has.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Except, if you were a skater, would you ever want to compete with her again? What if she decided you were in her way of getting the placements she deserved or contracts with ice shows?

I think the USFS lifetime ban is completely appropriate. There can be zero tolerance for committing violence against a competitor. The other pro skaters banding together to have a clause in their contracts that they won't compete if she's there is also sensible on their part.

If she had ever shown true remorse, I could see them maybe giving her a second chance at some point but she never has.

I think the punishment was definitely appropriate.

 

[skatesindreams]

She was fortunate not to have been charged with some form of attempted manslaughter; at least, IMO.

 

[berthesghost]

I found it interesting from the article what she received as punishment for what it was she accepted as the penalty.



I am of the opinion that it was a very long time ago and that maybe while Tonya has moved on, most people haven't. And maybe the punishment listed above was enough to pay for the crime. I am not sure what else people would have liked to have seen.

Yes the film has brought her back into the spotlight. But our response to it says more about us than her.

ITA that we collectively haven’t moved on as this seems the epitome of “unresolved” and it’s very telling that 24 years later interviews still begin with the press yelling “did you do it Tonya?!”

I don’t recall people on either side complaining much about the legal punishments. Most focus on the ban and then the skaters bannning together to form a tour ban of sorts. It’s really what seems to stick in Tonya’s craw. To me it shows that the skating world wanted nothing more than for her to just go away and it’s the one thing she defiantly refuses to do.

No, I don’t think Tonya’s moved on from this at all.

 

[Yazmeen]

I think Tonya believes she is "owed" more than she got compared to other skaters because she feels she made everyone else rich while she got shafted. And other posters are correct; all her apologies have been non-apologies to Nancy, Just statements to further bolster her "truth" that she was not involved in the attack more than what she owned up to 1994.

I agree with berthesghost - she hasn't moved on at all, and she wants attention and fame again so badly she can taste it. Her presence at the Globes created at least somewhat of a backlash in the strong atmosphere of protesting abuse of women that night. It will be interesting to see how things go after tonight's interview. She will likely get more of the attention she craves. But will it be more sympathetic or more negative now that she's owned up to knowing more about the attack than she admitted to before? This could work out for her; or she could have just shot herself in the foot. And I hope she's at least smart enough to understand that once award season is over, it's unlikely that Margot and Allison are going to be calling her to hang out and be part of their circle.

 

[bardtoob]

To me it shows that the skating world wanted nothing more than for her to just go away and it’s the one thing she defiantly refuses to do.

No, I don’t think Tonya’s moved on from this at all.

I think Tonya has not gone away because it continues to be commercially profitable for media outlets to exploit the story. They will continue to get Tonya off her lawn mower and onto the screen as long as they can get a bump in revenue.

I found this interesting ...

'I, Tonya' earns near-perfect marks for execution - Movie follows main character from childhood through 1994 Olympics

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Posted 12/6/17 by Nick McCarvel, special to icenetwork

Icenetwork
Ice Network, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Figure Skating which has the exclusive rights to U.S. Figure Skating's interactive media properties and is a partnership between U.S. Figure Skating and MLB Advanced Media, was launched in August 2007. Icenetwork.com is the premier destination for fans of ice skating, delivering exclusive live and on-demand coverage of domestic and international competitions while offering fans the opportunity to stay updated with news and information from the world of ice skating year round.

http://www.usfsa.org/story?id=83933

... Some lifetime ban by the USFSA

US Figure Skating surely will be raking in way more cash from the media exposure than Tonya ever will. They are even willing to acknowledge her existence on their own media outlet despite banning her forever

... Don't, for one second, think that US Figure Skating has stopped loving to hate Tonya when it is convenient and profitable to continue to do so.

 

[berthesghost]

^obviously Tonya heeds the call to periodically get off her mower because she needs the cash or is at that point still interested in rehabilitating her image. She knows better than anyone that she’s making the least bank out of keeping the scandal alive, but free will and all that, she is a willing participant. It’s still a bit unclear to me what her current goal is. But it does seem clearer to me that Mrs Price realizes she hasn’t left Miss Harding behind at all.

As for usfs, there’s a big difference between actively keeping this alive and passively deciding to make the most of the inevitable.