Johnny Weir

Whether witty or wise, controversial or charming, shocking or silly, sweet or sassy, provocative or profound, inspiring or infuriating--or any combination of those--Johnny Weir, the three-time U.S. Champion, two-time Olympian, and World medalist figure skater, almost always says something worth quoting whenever he commentates a skating competition, makes a TV appearance, gives an interview, holds a press conference, writes, tweets, or is caught on video. His quotes needed to be collected and shared; hence this blog.

Johnny on Evan

I Like You. I Don't Like You. I'm Indifferent. It's Complicated.
A chronology of Johnny Weir quotes about
Evan Lysacek


2012
Thank you for voting for me! In my first step towards world peace (as promised with my victory) I would like to say, I ♥ @evanlysacek.
--Twitter, February 4, 2012
(after being announced as winner of Impro-Ice voting)

*****

It's a very difficult thing to do, to come back to competitive figure skating, and, you know, lucky for me, I don't have the pressure of being the Olympic champion riding on my shoulders as well. I can come back and land some jumps and look beautiful and people will be excited and happy to see me. Evan has the pressure of coming back as the champion. 
--press conference announcing his return to competitive skating, January 19, 2012

*****

Evan and I have a long rivalry, but he was one of the first people that congratulated me on my marriage, and I thought that was very cool and very big of him, and if he decided to come back, it'll make U.S. figure skating very interesting between he and I and the crop of great young skaters we have now.
--press conference announcing his return to competitive skating, January 19, 2012

*****

[Plushenko's] comeback was definitely more inspiring to me than Evan's announcement last year. 
--press conference announcing his return to competitive skating, January 19, 2012

*****

2011
He is everything that the figure skating world wants to see from a male figure skater. He played by the rules and played the game. But he's not me.
--nbcnewyork.com, Talk Stoop: Johnny Weir, posted March 24, 2011
(on Evan Lysacek)

*****

2010
[Evan Lysacek is] easier to put on a Wheaties box.
--New York magazine, "The Johnny Weir Spectacular" by Amy Larocca, August 15, 2010

******

So nice running into @EvanLysacek at #SohoHouse tonight. Dapper.
--Twitter, July 26, 2010

*****

He’s easy for people to wrap their heads around. He’s easy to put on a Wheaties box or on Dancing With the Stars. He’s the great American Olympic champion. While he’s considered this all-American boy, I’m considered like this Russian spy ring that just got caught.
--Out.com, "Catching Up With Johnny Weir" by Dustin Fitzharris, July 6, 2010

*****

It’s no secret that Evan and I aren’t the closest of frenemies.
--Out.com, "Catching Up With Johnny Weir" by Dustin Fitzharris, July 6, 2010

*****

[You + the mongoose or abbott, stranded on a desert island "Cast Away" style, who would you choose?]

Mongoose
--Twitter, June 29, 2010, bluefly chat
("Mongoose" refers to Evan Lysacek)

*****

I've never whined. I wasn't the one who falls dancing and gets a concussion and breaks toes and has hip replacement surgeries. If anyone whines, it's definitely Evan.
--People.com, "INSIDE STORY: Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir 'At War'" by Lorenzo Benet and Rennie Dyball, April 30, 2010

*****

We are at war. My claws are out.
--People.com, "INSIDE STORY: Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir 'At War'" by Lorenzo Benet and Rennie Dyball, April 30, 2010

*****

I have no respect for Evan Lysacek.
--People.com, "INSIDE STORY: Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir 'At War'" by Lorenzo Benet and Rennie Dyball,, April 30, 2010

*****

Evan--he's a slore.
--The Wendy Williams Show, April 28, 2010

*****

I have nothing bad to say about Evan. I think he's been a great person for our sport and, you know, while he's doing Dancing with the Stars and being the Olympic champion, last night I went on George Lopez and I rode a yak.
--101.9 The Mix Chicago, Eric and Kathy, podcast, March 25, 2010


*****

Evan Lysacek is our current leader with clean long program, but my panties stay very loose.
--(as Viacheslav Romanov), Be Good Johnny Weir, "The Future is Mine," Season 1, Ep. 9
(on Lysacek's 2010 Olympic long program performance)

*****

For me, Evan’s skating is a lot about fireworks. That last minute of the program he brings people to their feet because he’s flailing his arms around, running and spinning fast and doing things that are exciting. But for me, I’m very much about the beauty of what you can create. Evan doesn’t let himself feel as much. He does what somebody tells him will work. I’m about showing that beauty. For me, Evan comes off as cold.
--New York magazine, "The Less Flamboyant One" by Emma Rosenblum, January 24, 2010

*****

And they’ve sort of pitted me and Evan against each other like Britney and Christina. I’m Christina, of course.
--New York magazine, "The Less Flamboyant One" by Emma Rosenblum, January 24, 2010

*****   
 
There's nothing like competing in America, there's nothing like competing in my country, and there's nothing like...

[Evan Lysacek: Isn't that what you said in Japan?]

That was very clever for Evan.
--2010 U.S. Figure Skating Nationals FanFest, January 17, 2010
*****

This thing with Evan is not a great rivalry, it's an eh rivalry.
--ESPN the Magazine, "Johnny Being Johnny" by Shaun Assael, January 8, 2010

*****

2009
I have a primarily warm relationship with Evan Lysacek. From the past few years in the media it would seem quite the opposite and through careful editing and writing the media has created a rivalry and coldness that isn't exactly true.
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, Johnny Weir Online, questions and answers, September 2009

*****

I'm going to give Evan a massage before he skates.
--icenetwork.com, "The Inside Edge with Sarah and Drew - Worlds diary" (entry for Wednesday, March 25) by Sarah S. Brannen and Drew Meekins, March 28, 2009

*****

2008
I think he's very choreographed and very rehearsed. He has the big white teeth, really tan. It's just a little too fake for me.
--The New York Times, "Figure Skating Rivalry Pits Athleticism Against Artistry" by Alan Schwarz, March 18, 2008

*****

I’d love to see a 6-foot-2-tall, skinny man doing a halfpipe on figure skates. That’s not figure skating. You can have a different name, but that’s not figure skating.
 --The New York Times, "Figure Skating Rivalry Pits Athleticism Against Artistry" by Alan Schwarz, March 18, 2008

*****

If he doesn’t want to skate to music that’s pretty and wear a pretty costume, then go rollerblade or skateboard or do one of those extreme sports.
--The New York Times, "Figure Skating Rivalry Pits Athleticism Against Artistry" by Alan Schwarz, March 18, 2008

*****

I do respect Evan as an athlete. And as a person, he's an acquaintance. It's not like we're best friends and we do each other's hair and go for coffee and stuff like that. We're competitors.
--USA Today, "Lysacek gets title despite tie" by Gary Mihoces, January 28, 2008

*****

I'm not going to beat anyone up or hit someone in the knee.
--nbcsport.msnbc.com, "Weir-Lysacek Rivalry Gives Skating Some Buzz," AP, January 20, 2008
(on his relationship with Evan Lysacek)

*****

When I lost the short program I was very disheartened. I skated the best I had skated all year, and I still lost to Evan. There was no way unless I pulled dancing rabbits out of my butt I was going to win it. That was the first time I felt that way.
--chicagotribune.com, "Johnny Weir" by Philip Hersh, January 23, 2008
(on 2007 Nationals)

*****

[Would it bother you more to lose the gold at nationals to Evan, or be beaten by someone else?...[I]f it's Evan for gold, and Johnny second--would you then rather it be him in the top spot or prefer it to be anyone but him?]

If I'm second, and someone else is first, I would expect that someone to be Evan. It doesn't make it more lovely that it would be him, but I consider Evan the other top guy. To me, it's like the Plushenko-Yagudin rivalry. If one didn't win, the other probably should have. Evan and I have to defend the top two territories--like a sick little army.
--ifsmagazine.com, "National Velvet" by Kathleen Bangs, January 7, 2008 

*****

2007

When I returned from Russia, I was expecting to see some kind of announcement from my federation or the US Olympic Committee that I had won an award, but I didn't see anything. I know it's interesting when Evan Lysacek attends a movie premiere, and I could pee myself with glee if Kimmie Meissner throws out one more pitch at a baseball game, but I actually won something! I am very proud of it, and that's why I'm ranting, forgive me!
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, Johnny Weir Online, journal, "Around the World in a Month (JFK-PEK-HRB-HRB-PEK-SVO-JFK)," December 2, 2007
(on U.S. skating officials' silence regarding Johnny's winning the award "Lyubov k Rossii," ("The Love of Russia")

*****

The "Rivalry" isn't a constant thing for me. If I'm asked a question, I will answer it, but if not then I don't have anything to say about Evan...I could honestly care less, but if you want to know something, I'll tell you, or if he attacks me in an interview, I'll fire right back. I think anyone would act the same.
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, Johnny Weir Online, questions and answers, July 2007

*****

I don't like my costumes for the group numbers at all! In the finale I am some kind of turkish (sic) raja and I have a harem of three girls and I wear a coat dress and turban. As if that isn't embarrassing enough, I have to "fist fight" with Evan Lysacek and I have to mock lose every night since he's James Bond. I know everyone wants to know if I've "accidentally" bitch slapped him yet, and I think we all know the answer to that.
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, journal, "Thank God this season is over...", May 15, 2007
(speaking of the Champions on Ice tour)

*****

Evan and I do push each other in skating. It's not that we don't get along, because we do, but we're competitors and in many ways each other's biggest rival, so would Hitler and Stalin have sat down to tea? Probably not.
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, Johnny Weir Online, questions and answers, March 2007

*****

[What do you think of Tanith and Evan's relationship?]

All this just makes me giggle.
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, Johnny Weir Online, questions and answers, March 2007

*****

[Let’s play a small game. It’s about your associations. Tell me which associations you get when I say following names. Don’t think!]

[Brian Joubert]

Strong

[Daisuke Takahashi]

Elegant

[Stephan Lambiel]

Spinning

[Evan Lysacek]

(pause)

[Don’t think, Johnny! HAHA!]

I think he needs to shave.

[Evgenii Plushenko]

King
--fsnews.ru, "Johnny Weir for FSNews: 'Totally addicted to figure skating and Russia,'" interview date February 28, 2007, posted March 3, 2007

 
*****

Well, he beat me by 30 points. He kicked my ass, he didn't just beat me.
--2007 U.S. Nationals, mixed zone interview after free program, January 27, 2007
(about Evan Lysacek, the 2007 champion)

*****

I call Evan Mongoose because at the Olympics we had a joke of always talking in Midwestern, Minnesota, Illinois accents and Mongoose sounds funny if you say it like that. Mongoose is also just a completely different animal than a swan, like Evan and I and it was a cute, funny nickname. Evan didn't know what a mongoose was, so I had to tell them it's a rodent that eats snakes like Riki Tiki Tavi and I think he got it. In any event, I have a strange sense of humor and I love that nickname.
--kataniye.com/johnny_weir, Johnny Weir A Rising Star, Interviews from the 2006/2007 Season (Part 1)

*****

2006
[Q: I read someone's blog, and it says you and Evan are sharing hotel rooms during the tour. If it's true, do you have a good time with Evan?]

I actually room alone this year. I like to have my own space. Evan's a good guy.
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, Johnny Weir Online, questions and answers, July 2006

*****

Evan Lysacek calls me Swan and I laugh every time. I call him Mongoose.
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, Johnny Weir Online, questions and answers, July 2006

*****

I respect Evan, very much. I think he's a good skater with a lot of great qualities. Off the ice he's a pretty good guy. We're competitors, so it's not like I'm going to be his best friend, but I think he's a nice guy and a talented one.
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, Johnny Weir Online, questions and answers, April 2006

*****

I don't generally make a habit of being friends with the people I complete against, and before Torino I didn't feel close at all to Evan Lysacek. We really connected on this trip and hit it off and I feel like I got to know him and I'm excited that I'll have a friend on the team now.
--ifsmagazine.com, "After an Olympic Roller Coaster Ride of Fame and Defamation, Johnny Weir is Now Ready For Worlds" by Kathleen Bangs, March 16, 2006

*****

2005
Evan works hard and deserved his success.
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, Johnny Weir Online, questions and answers, September 2005

*****

I think Evan Lysacek is a strong, consistent skater and he is definitely somebody who is one of my top rivals. He usually does something very interesting with his choreography and his jumps are decent, so he is definitely near the top of the sport. I don't like losing to people I've previously beaten, and Evan defeated me three times last season, but in my defense I was injured the three times he beat me. I love competing against him because he is so strong, but I don't want to lose to him.
--figureskatersonline.com/johnnyweir, Johnny Weir...the official site, Q&A, May 2005

*****