Yesterday, we discussed Johnny Weir and how he’s divorcing his husband/partner Victor Voronov. Many of you did not care that much, judging from the comments. Which is too bad, because this story just keeps getting worse. And by “worse” I mean that there are elements of domestic violence, money issues, lies and betrayal. Of course Johnny Weir would never have a quiet, uneventful divorce. NEVER.
The gloves are off in the divorce battle between Johnny Weir and Victor Weir-Voronov less than 24 hours after Weir announced the split. Weir claims he tired of financially supporting Voronov, who hasn’t been understanding about Weir’s work schedule.
“We were fighting in such a terrible way and it did get physical . . . it’s unfortunate that things went the way that it did because domestic violence is never the way to go,” the dandily dressed Olympic commentator told “Access Hollywood.”
He added, “The damage that was done to me mentally was crippling.”
Voronov’s rep Wendy Feldman responded to Weir’s claim, “There was a domestic violence incident. Johnny was arrested. That case was dropped by Victor at the urging of Johnny prior to the Olympics. The person who bit someone was Johnny.”
The pair appeared in court this month on domestic dispute charges, which were dismissed.
Feldman added that Voronov “feels duped,” by Weir, who “had the [divorce] papers drawn up a day prior to the Olympics and filed right after.”
Weir sniffed of the acrimony, “The worst he could do would be to post naked photos that we have [of] each other and I look flawless.”
As for the thought – had by Weir – that Victor is going to do something to “get back at him,” TMZ reports that Johnny believes Victor is trying to shake him down for money. Johnny’s people claim that Victor has demanded $25,000 (plus spousal support) from Johnny or else Victor will go to the media and “tell all.” Victor’s people claim that Johnny completely blind-sided him with the divorce filing, but Johnny’s people point out that Victor is already on his second divorce lawyer and he’s known about it for a while, since before Johnny left for Sochi. Oh, and Johnny is asking the court to make Victor pay his (Johnny’s) lawyer fees.
So, basically, this divorce is going to be full of dramz. I’ll admit to something… I’m really uncomfortable with the way Johnny Weir is trying to turn the domestic violence charge against him into something that was justified because of “mental damage” done to him.
Shocked by the abrupt ending of my marriage and am dealing with the trauma including multiple things I am just now becoming aware of…
— Victor Weir-Voronov (@Vweirvoronov) March 20, 2014
Yes. I'd like to confirm, It's true: I am only now finding out that my husband @johnnygweir filed for divorce from me months ago.
— Victor Weir-Voronov (@Vweirvoronov) March 20, 2014
Photos courtesy of Victor’s Twitter, WENN.
Nothing is ever private any more.
For real. These celebrity gay divorces so far have really set the bar low- they get UGLY! Sometimes it’s sad, but a guilty pleasure seeing ppl break up and all the possible avenues they take to protect themselves and move on. But this divorce along with Melissa Etheridge, David Tuterra and others make it horrible to watch.
yes because the “straight” ones are so above board.
can we stop with the labels now? it’s not a gay marriage, it was a marriage and it’s ending badly. end of.
This is celebrity divorces and break ups in general. Being gay has nothing to do with it.
Look at Mel Gibson. Kim Kardashian. Halle Berry. Breaking up in the public eye gets ugly. I’m sure there are more that I can’t think of
I hate that break ups like this will be used to fight against marriage equality when just as bad or worse happens in male and female relationship.
I hope his career takes as much of a beating as other celebs and their physical abuse incidents. Just because everyone LOVES Johnny and his flamboyant clothing and charming personality does not diminish the fact he is an abusive man.
Johnny trying to make the physical aspect insignificant due to mental abuse is sickening. If I retaliated for both the mental and physical abuse once done to me by an ex, I would be considered a heavy weight boxer OR a serial killer. NOTHING justifies physical abuse on someone else. Only in self defense, which this was not.
I agree, and also what kind of person BITES another person? That is just barbaric imo.
Biting is the worst AND very dangerous. Savage truly.
I am just going to point out, one arrest report doesn’t tell the whole story. And emotional abuse *is* abuse – don’t minimize it.
Police reports are only a piece of the puzzle. The police officer’s job is to look for signs of physical abuse then and there – scratches, scrapes, bruises, etc – and regardless of the rest of what’s going on will arrest the person that inflicted the injury that they can see. This doesn’t take into account self-defense, nor does it take into account an abuser goading their partner into lashing out (which is still wrong, but again we’re still missing the whole story). It speaks volumes that Voronin was even able to drop the charges, because if there had been evidence of felony assualt the choice wouldn’t actually have been available to him. There have been many, many instances where a DA chooses to file assault charges against the desire of the victim, who may have already gotten back with his victim.
I’m not saying Johnny isn’t an abuser, but I am saying that we don’t have the full story and we’re rushing to judgement based on a police report that may not tell the whole story.
It is just my opinion. If you re-read my post I acknowledge mental abuse.
My point is Johnny is a celeb. Regardless of who is at fault, he bit another human being AND he is the one in the public eye who is in trouble for doing it. His career should suffer the same ramifications as everyone else. No exceptions.
You do not have to agree. Simply an opinion.
P.S. I have experienced both mental and physical abuse at the hands of a crazy man. Please do not presume to school me on domestic violence. It is very hurtful to me.
Good post Bridget. I agree.
@Eliza – I am offering an opinion and a counterpoint based on what you wrote, one part of which stated that what happened with Johnny couldn’t possibly have been self defense. Didyou watch Johnny’s interview? He discussed the circumstances, and if that’s indeed what happened its some scary stuff. I stand by what I wrote. An arrest only tells a piece of the story, and yet we’re so quick to condemn Johnny because we may not like his public persona.
@Eliza: I also realize that I misinterpreted your original comment. I thought it to mean that you were saying that emotional abuse isn’t abuse. I hope that you have since found peace and safety away from your abuser.
I really dislike how he’s somewhat attempting to “minimize” domestic violence. Even if both he and Victor were physically fighting each other as two men of the same size, that is still WRONG on so many levels. I’m a bit touchy about this, as I have a male relative whose wife hauled off and punched him once and gets physical on occasion and he makes light of it. I tried to tell him if he was a woman and his wife was a man he’d be furious, but he just says “well she’s a girl.” Ugh. Violence and abuse is never okay, in any form.
word! its not so much about the size of the attacker. its about the psychological damage done. someone you trust and want to feel safe around is hurting you. thats why it is worse than getting clocked in the face by a stranger. in that case the physical damage will be the same but whats on your soul is way different.
“Violence and abuse is never okay, in any form.”
Absolutely true, and exactly what Weir said in his Access Hollywood interview. When things get that sort of physical, it’s better to end the relationship. But we should not diminish the seriousness of emotional abuse either. Having followed Weir’s career and life, I was surprised by how they stopped hanging out with friends that he used to be very close with. Weir even commented on how his husband didn’t like to hang out with his friends in his column, as well as the fact that he didn’t like Weir wearing heels, etc. These are all signs of the kind of control and efforts to isolate the victim that are typical of emotional abuse. As to that biting incident: biting is generally not a form of attack, but of defense. As much as many of you dislike Weir, he is probably telling the truth here.
This is gonna be such a f*king Mess
I know, it’s so sad 🙁
I am so sorry to hear this news–sorry this seemingly adorable couple is divorcing, and sorry it will be so hateful. I was always a fan of Johnny’s skating, and enjoyed his reality show, but it was pretty clear from that show that he has some seriously narcissistic and intense elements of his personality. I am grossed out to hear him justifying domestic violence, but not too surprised because he is so self-centered. I just hope this whole thing calms down, because if it doesn’t, his career will surely be damaged. Skating is still a pretty conservative social world, and a huge mud-slinging divorce would hurt his desirability in anything skating-related, such as commentary or performing professionally.
I think any abuse suffered is what Victor is going through, not Johnny.
It is very disturbing how he is minimizing domestic violence.
Okay here is my question.
What lead to Johnny biting Victor? Did he just lean over and take a big ass bite out of his arm? Without any type of reason?
The reason I am curious… is that unfortunately, I had a childhood friend end up in a ugly marriage. Which looked all pretty and pristine to outsiders. But when no one was looking her husband had a habit of grabbing her by her upper body. Be it her face, neck or arms. And throw her around for sport.
One night he grabbed her by her lower face. (he had huge hands) So he could force her to look at him, as he explain what she had done to disappoint him. And started squeezing her face, very hard. And she bit his palm. Hard. Drew blood. He called the cops.
And she got arrested. Even though it was obvious from her face… with bruises on both side of her mouth/jaw area. She had drew blood and by Texas law, they had to take her in. (She did divorce him after that little episode.)
So I am curious if Johnny is simply a biter. A boy with bad manners. Or was there something else going on that lead to that bite. Because most folks, get the hell out of the way, of a chomping mouth coming towards them. Or is Victor just too slow, to have avoided that bite?
Either way… violence is never the way to go. But sometimes, you have to do, what you have to do.
I’m glad you pointed this out, as many on here have jumped to a bunch of conclusions just based upon the bite. Bites are normally a defensive act.
This sounds like a textbook case of an abuser trying the turn everything around and come across as the victim. Johnny conveniently has better media access than is ex, to get the spin on the divorce that he wants.
I’ve never liked Johnny Weir. He’s always come across as an egomaniac.
Also, he wears a lot of fur clothing. Jerk.
He’s also pretentious as f—k. Sorry but I don’ t find him charming and the life of the party. He’s the type of person who would sit around parties and make petty comments about everybody but himself.
I can’t help but think in those pics that Weir looks like the lovechild of Loki and a vampire (and I mean that as a tongue-in-cheek comment, not a snarky one!).
The truth will be somewhere between what he is saying and what Victor is saying. I do not think playing out the disintegration of their marriage in the media will bring much sympathy for either of them. It would be so much easier if they just parted silently after divorcing, acknowledging that they are better off apart, but for some reason some people enjoy sticking it to their ex for months or years. Petty and unnecessary.
I am curious, because biting can actually be a defensive action as well as an offensive one. I just think about all of the battered spouses who are driven to defend themselves and are then the ones arrested. An arrest report most definitely does not always tell the whole story.To give perspective – I used to work in a Domestic Violence agency, and have definitely seen this happen.
Also, there’s no way that Voronin didn’t know divorce papers had been filed, because they’re not considered properly filed until they’re served. As a lawyer, he would know this.
I am a survivor.
This is what abusers do. They winnow you down to nothing, nothing, nothing, and then the ONE time that YOU lash out at them, that’s when the abuser starts claiming that YOU are the crazy one.
I did not have police involvement in my relationship, but everyone-in BOTH sides of our families-presumed I was the “crazy one” because after years of being raped, beaten, and brutalized, in the latter part of the relationship, I started to just lash out with my fists every time he started something with me, and would have hysterical crying fits, etc., and then he would “smooth everything over” for me. No one EVER witnessed anything he did to me, because he was a calculating bastard and hit me in places people couldn’t see, and never around family or in a safe place like someone’s home. I struggle TO THIS DAY (fifteen years later) to put those ways of dealing with conflict aside. It’s beyond extraordinarily difficult.
My overall point being, just because Johnny was the one who bit and got caught, doesn’t mean anything other than what Bridget said above about police evaluating the situation. Maybe they’re mutually abusve; maybe not. We don’t have the full story and probably never will.
You put that so powerfully. I just hope that you are able to feel safe and find peace.
Johnny says in the interview that the couple had been fighting all night and Victor was very drunk. After Johnny went to bed Victor requested sex and tried to force the issue when Johnny declined. Johnny bit him defending himself. He also said Victor has slapped him in front of their friends. Maybe you should watch the interview rather than rely on someone else’s recap.
Victor has several arrests for violence in his past. All you have to do is Google. Not so for Johnny.
Apparently Victor’s “several arrests” are all charges that stem from one incident, and he was not convicted. Also, just because a person has arrests in their past doesn’t mean they are not a victim.
I saw Weir’s interview, and it was strange. He was clearly trying to spin the divorce in his favor.
Weir’s interview should be viewed as one side of the situation and not the only view.
I googled.
Found nothing that suggests several arrests. Can you provide a link please?
http://www.gwinnettcourts.com/home.asp#partycasesearch/pnamelast:voronov/pnamefirst:victor/qfields:8199/pcsform:1/
The most amazing part is how gays were fighting for decades to get marry official…. and then so many divorce just year or two after they finally got married. It’s amazing. Everyone thought they would be married for years now. But no – they get tired of each other 2 years later.
Wow. No.
What does that have to do with anything ?
No one thought gay people would be married for ever, the point is that they should have the right to get married if they wanted to.
At the end of the day whether you are straight or gay people shouldn’t jump it to marriage.
I know 🙁
It’s so disheartening to read comments like this.
So, basically, gay people are just like straight people?
I’m so sick of these ignorant ass comments. Because the divorce rate wasn’t already GREATER THAN 50 PERCENT BEFORE gays could even marry anywhere…
“Till death do us part” might as well be dropped from the vows altogether at this point. It’s become a joke. No fault divorce means the “contract” is virtually meaningless. No need to try work out any differences, just abandon ship the instant things become less than perfect.
Depressing.
wow. the most ignorant thing i have read in a long time.
That’s not exclusive to gay people. Straight people divorce after 1-2 years too. Sometimes in even less time. Gay people aren’t alien creatures. They are human and they behave like every other human being in the world. To expect something different just because they fought for the right to marry and are having some of the same struggles that straight people have during their marriages is ludicrous.
Ugh. Johnny sounds like a textbook abuser here, deflecting blame like crazy. Hopefully Victor is doing okay.
that was my thought too – “i was made to do it, you made me do it, etc etc.” ugh. terrible.
Welp, there goes any liking I had for Johnny Weir. Physical violence just somehow happened, huh? I hope his husband gets every dime he wants.
I had read about a week ago there was a domestic violence incident involving these two. Then I read that charges were dropped. I had no idea until reading this article that a divorce had been filed or that Johnny bit Victor.
I am going to go and find the Access Hollywood interview. But I wanted to add here: I have a relative who was involved in a volatile relationship with a guy. They were fairly young – mid twenties.
He aggressively bit her – on the face, on her cheek. Two bite marks on her. It was awful. She said he had pushed her around a couple of times prior to this, but never anything like this attack.
Thankfully, that was the END of that relationship. And while she did go to the ER for treatment right away due to the skin being punctured, she chose not to have police involvement. (I guess the ER docs don’t have to report these kind things unless it is a child?)
I’m saddened by this whole thing.