Unpopular Opinions

[On My Own]

still, you and some other posters here seem to believe tabloids,

Shukan Bunshun has done multiple RELIABLE exposes of celebrities and politicians alike. It was Bunshun that exposed Seiko Hashimoto's sexual harassment of Daisuke Takahashi.

Calling it a "tabloid" and leaving it there is ridiculous. On the divorce thread, there was even a Chinese fan (@raruki ) who follows J-Entertainment - they only fished up reliable Japanese sources, instead of bringing up the various other gossip that was flying around on places like weibo.

You need to give credit to people other than yourself and your fandom. I do not believe people claiming to have friends in TCC, but I would say Medvedeva and Shukan Bunshun are a bit more reliable than you, although I still wonder if it wasn't supposed to be a trollish, tongue-in-cheek comment from Medvedeva.

Do note Medvedeva and Hanyu knew each other for 5 years. 2015-16, 16-17, 17-18 they weren't training together, but they were in the same rink for two seasons after that. I personally am not making any negative judgment of him based on those two years.

No, I don't know things with certainty though I followed the Medvedeva saga closely and I have a negative opinion on her.

And so it's fair that someone has a negative opinion of Hanyu, isn't it? Probably the most unpopular opinion of them all in the skating fandom.

 

[Arrows]

@Arrows are you, the only person who believes that Dave Lease has strong and reliable sources? He didn’t know 1% of things going on in cricket club. His information was thirdhand at best. Don’t get me started on how he knows Absolutely nothing about Italian skating but wants to have a serious conversation about Daniel Grassl.

And I am not claiming that this Medvedeva Hanyu thing is real or gossip stir up. But Claiming its not true bc Dave Lease didnt “report” is comical.

No, I don't believe he has reliable sources, but if it wasn't even gossip, but a well known fact as claimed by someone here on FSU then everyone including Lease would have reported about it, too. There are also tons of other reasons why I don't believe the gossips and one of them is that Medvedeva is nothing but an attention seeker.

You need to give credit to people other than yourself and your fandom. I do not believe people claiming to have friends in TCC, but I would say Medvedeva and Shukan Bunshun are a bit more reliable than you, although I still wonder if it wasn't supposed to be a trollish, tongue-in-cheek comment from Medvedeva.

Maybe you find Medvedeva or Shukan Bunshun more reliable than Hanyu, okay. In the end everyone believes what they want to believe. I think Medvedeva lost all her credibility a long time ago, especially after FaOI lettergate

 

[On My Own]

Maybe you find Medvedeva or Shukan Bunshun more reliable than Hanyu, okay.

Celebrities don't lie, I guess. Oh wait, Medvedeva does. Hanyu can't possibly.

Get back to me when Hanyu at least makes that pop science machine learning prototype y'all were convinced he was going to end up making and 'saving' fs with it, before criticizing a magazine that has exposed celebrities and politicians engaging in multiple sexual assault and harassment scandals. He hasn't shown the ability to accomplish even such a small thing yet.

And please don't with the "lettergate". Apparently someone can't possibly be shat upon by a fandom known to love shitting upon people.

Do whatever, but my next statement is quite an open one - if Medvedeva and/or Shukan Bunshun claimed Hanyu himself did something horrible, I would love to know how some of the fanyus would react at this point. It would be "attention seeking" and "tabloid" from quite a few of you, I would guess.

 

[On My Own]

Here's an opinion, although perhaps not unpopular. The so-called "female gaze" and the way it hypercapitalizes on MEN in Asian fandom culture, and how it's leaked to international fandom (again mostly female) is the antithesis of feminism. And the men who engage in it need to take a long, hard look at how predatory their marketing is, because the mental health issues clearly run VERY deep in those fandoms.

 

[Wyliefan]

Just supposing he DID date her, why would that be so terrible? I'm genuinely curious here.

 

[On My Own]

Just supposing he DID date her, why would that be so terrible? I'm genuinely curious here.

Because he denied dating her - therefore it would be a lie.

In Chinese fandom especially it would be considered awful because it would mean to them that he hid his gf in order to gain fans (by maintaining a "single man" image).

This is all assuming they dated before 2018, when she'd be 16-18, therefore another issue there. But I don't believe that, they weren't even in the same country. Therefore my question is quite literally the same as yours. Why the vehemence behind all this, when they might have dated when they were in the same rink, and were both adults anyway? It's their business. And now if they broke up and she doesn't like him - who the heck cares？

 

[Wyliefan]

Then it must be very hard to be a Chinese fan, because most celebrities lie about their love lives at some point or other.

 

[On My Own]

Then it must be very hard to be a Chinese fan

Well there's a big reason they've been going crazy since aug 4 2023.

 

[Daba]

What are you talking about? Medvedeva never claimed that he dated Hanyu. I read everything about Zhenya and never she mentioned his name. It's just crazy fans made up all the rumors. Yes, she once told about her ex boyfriend, but that was without any names. It's so annoying how people can use your words

 

[Sparks]

Popular opinion: stop talking about Hanyu
He is not competing

 

[On My Own]

I read everything about Zhenya and never she mentioned his name. It's just crazy fans made up all the rumors.

It's complicated I guess? But the reason many fanyus hate her and Misha Ge is very much because they felt they "stoked" those shippers.

Don't ask me how this makes any sense. You have to be crazy in order to get it.

The recent interview one had that snarky soundbite about her ex having divorced in 3 months, so many assume it was Hanyu.

 

[lsusan]

Ilia Kulik wasn't the greatest skater. He never won Worlds and turned professional right after becoming Olympic Champion. I feel he's more known for being the husband (now ex-husband) of Ekaterina Gordeeva than an Olympic Gold medalist in his own right. After he and Ms. Gordeeva divorced, he was harassing Gracie Gold according to her new memoir. I always heard he was no good for Katia, but I thought he was a decent man, and the marriage just didn't work out. I've lost all respect for Kulik after reading he was banned from showing up at Gracie's rink during practice after sending her inappropriate texts and making comments about her body. Apparently, he was trying to show off that he could still jump, yet Gracie wasn't very impressed. They used to say he had a big ego, liked attention, and didn't treat Katia very good. Well, just that short excerpt about him in Gracie's book just confirmed to me that those rumors were true all along. This guy is past his prime and shouldn't be harassing other female skaters.

 

[kosjenka]

Medvedeva was overrated especially after she switched to Orser. I have a feeling most of people faked that she improved under Orser and skating to Bezic choreography…

 

[DreamSkates]

Would it help if skaters would address the toxic part of their fanbase and ask them to behave? Or wouldn't that help? Others would say: it's not the responsibility of a skater. True. At the same time, perhaps the toxic fan would listen to their idol asking them to stop, or am I wrong?

Not a matter of right or wrong but maybe skaters prefer to not be distracted by the drama that would result.

 

[Wyliefan]

But the skaters who are getting bashed by the toxic fans have to deal with the distractions.

 

[Marco]

Medvedeva was overrated especially after she switched to Orser. I have a feeling most of people faked that she improved under Orser and skating to Bezic choreography…

Almost all elite female skaters in the past three decades were overrated, except Butyrskaya.

 

[Marco]

Almost all elite female skaters in the past three decades were overrated, except Butyrskaya.

I meant Russian - didn't know where that word went when I typed.

 

[DreamSkates]

But the skaters who are getting bashed by the toxic fans have to deal with the distractions.

If you don’t read or buy into the bashing then no “dealing with” it.

 

[Lynn226]

If you don’t read or buy into the bashing then no “dealing with” it.

Maybe it's not that easy. Even if you don't read comments or even turn them off on your personal social media platforms, it's likely someone in your immediate circle does. There will be someone who mentions the negativity to the skater, sometimes not in a kind way.

 

[On My Own]

After seeing it mentioned fifty different times these last few days - I hate the word "tea" when it comes to gossip and wish there could be a worldwide ban on using it like that.

 

[Simone411]

After seeing it mentioned fifty different times these last few days - I hate the word "tea" when it comes to gossip and wish there could be a worldwide ban on using it like that.

Well, that word should only mean what it is, and I prefer "sweet" iced tea since I'm from the south. Honey Hush! Let's just say the word "gossip" because that's exactly what it is, and we shouldn't believe everything we hear or read unless we know 100% that it's fact especially on the world wide web. I do declare. Sometimes tea is simply tea. By the way it's pretty warm here today where I live. It's 76F and I'm drinking "sweet" iced tea at this very moment.

 

[chantilly]

I don’t miss pre COP ice dancing one bit.
Not to say there wasn’t great programs or skaters and ice dancers before COP.

 

[VGThuy]

This might be a bit vitriolic, but it’s how I feel.

Using the term “Ultra-C” to describe the hardest figure skating elements is stupid. It made sense for gymnastics in the 1970s when elements were rated from A-C and some men gymnasts (notably the Japanese) were doing skills beyond the C. It’s like when a double twisting-double tuck was rated a “Super E” in like 1997-2004 because elements were capped at an E and a single twisting-double tuck was already an E element.

Figure skating elements under the IJS are not rated from A-C, so the term “ultra-C” makes no sense. I don’t necessarily blame anyone who is of the younger Gen Z age using it because it’s slang and slang is whatever, but anybody past the age of 25 using it makes me squirm.

 

[DreamSkates]

Maybe it's not that easy. Even if you don't read comments or even turn them off on your personal social media platforms, it's likely someone in your immediate circle does. There will be someone who mentions the negativity to the skater, sometimes not in a kind way.

Then that person is not helping the skater and the skater can choose to not listen.

 

[chantilly]

Then that person is not helping the skater and the skater can choose to not listen.

I feel like you are forgetting about the human element of the situation.
It’s not that easy to just slough off mean and hurtful comments.
These athletes are prepared and groomed to get used to being judged.

 

[caseyedwards]

This might be a bit vitriolic, but it’s how I feel.

Using the term “Ultra-C” to describe the hardest figure skating elements is stupid. It made sense for gymnastics in the 1970s when elements were rated from A-C and some men gymnasts (notably the Japanese) were doing skills beyond the C. It’s like when a double twisting-double tuck was rated a “Super E” in like 1997-2004 because elements were capped at an E and a single twisting-double tuck was already an E element.

Figure skating elements under the IJS are not rated from A-C, so the term “ultra-C” makes no sense. I don’t necessarily blame anyone who is of the younger Gen Z age using it because it’s slang and slang is whatever, but anybody past the age of 25 using it makes me squirm.

So it doesn’t mean ultra competitive?

 

[caseyedwards]

I don’t miss pre COP ice dancing one bit.
Not to say there wasn’t great programs or skaters and ice dancers before COP.

I miss it terribly!!! All I see so much now is wall to wall to wall to wall elements and there is rarely a simple gliding lovely smooth curving tour around the ice

 

[Lynn226]

I feel like you are forgetting about the human element of the situation.
It’s not that easy to just slough off mean and hurtful comments.
These athletes are prepared and groomed to get used to being judged.

@chantilly You're absolutely right about the human element.

And what if the person who keeps bringing things up is a close family member like a parent or someone who pays the bills. Some people are just mean and some people are just clueless. Even if you set boundaries, some people just naturally don't respect them. It's exhausting.

 

[sadya]

After seeing it mentioned fifty different times these last few days - I hate the word "tea" when it comes to gossip and wish there could be a worldwide ban on using it like that.

A friend of mine calls it "juice". The first time she said "I have some juice for you!" I thought 'how sweet, she wants to visit me to bring me some kind of special juice', but it was boring office gossip about an office I had already left.

In the skating world I've only seen people use the word tea with often a meme of someone either drinking tea or spitting it out. Often followed by making fun of a skater over unproven rumours or faking shock, sometimes even laughing at a supposed misfortune of a skater also based on unproven rumours.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

I believe the "tea" in reference to gossip comes from Black drag culture. I like it, personally.