Johnny Weir on playing himself on ‘Night Court,’ his wild fashions, and being told to “butch” it up

Johnny Weir continues to reach new heights both on and off the ice.

After winning three figure skating U.S. Nationals in a row, Weir made his debut at the Olympics during the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy. While he had a classical style and become known for being a lyrical skater, he stood out for his flashy costume choices, which he often helped design himself.

As Weir injected an aura of excitement and cheekiness to the sport, his fame continued to rise with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Simultaneously, innuendo over his personal life became a subject of speculation in the media and among sports commentators.

Never shying away from being who he was, he first publicly came out as gay in his 2011 memoir Welcome to My World and later in his reality series Be Good Johnny Weir.

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In the years that followed, Weir has gone on to win over audiences with his broadcasting skills and killer fashion serves alongside fellow Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski. The pair have commentated or co-hosted every Olympics since the 2014 Games in Sochi, with their infectious chemistry equal parts informative and entertaining.

After competing on reality shows such as Dancing with the Stars, The Masked Singer, and MasterChef, 38-year-old Weir is now exercising his comedic acting chops in scripted television. This week he and Lipinski make guest appearances on the NBC reboot of Night Court.

In lead up to this week’s episode, we chatted with Weir about his experience on the sitcom, his trailblazing style, and how the ice skating world has changed in the years since he came out of the closet. Here’s what he had to say…

So how was working on Night Court alongside your good friend and collaborator Tara Lipinski?

Oh my gosh, it was such a fun thing. And Tara and I are both so busy. We live on opposite coasts. Of course, we come together for the figure skating season. But this filmed at the end of summer, beginning of autumn. We called each other immediately, just like, ‘Hey, are you free that week?’ And we immediately jumped at it. Because we love performing together. We love making people smile, making them laugh, and the writing team did a nice job of writing an elevated version of Tara and Johnny for Tara and Johnny to play.

Did you guys have any input with some of the lines or improving any of it?

Oh, certainly not. This is network television, you do it exactly as scripted!

What was it like playing heightened versions of yourselves? 

We have one of the deepest relationships that I’ve ever seen in all of television and entertainment. I mean, it’s organic, it’s natural, it’s authentic, it makes doing what we do really easy, because I’m always going to be there to catch her and she’ll be there to catch me. And no matter what situation we go into, we go into it with our best friend. And that is the absolute truth. I’ll say that Night Court did a very nice job [of scripting us]. But it can always be a difficult conversation when you are playing yourself. And people know you as Johnny Weir, and then you show up and you [have to] say something completely horrible or something that I would never say, and you don’t want to poo on the writer’s work. But at the same time you’re like, well, this is me. I’m the actual me. I’m the real character me. And I would not say that. So it’s always hard when it comes to that. But for the most part, people do a really good job of elevating us and helping us to fit into the worlds that we stepped into like on Night Court. 

 

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You’re also known for your amazing lewks over the years. Is there anything you’ve worn in the past that you wish you could take back or makes you cringe?

No, I see fashion very much like art installations. When I put a jacket on, that’s a Picasso to me. And I appreciate the work that people do to actually produce something to make it onto a rack so that I may buy it. So there are things that have looked better than others. And I will say there was one. It was a patent leather, puffy sort of straitjacket thing that I bought in Japan that I wore on television but the armholes were so low because of just the uniqueness of the garment that I couldn’t really get the microphone to my mouth. That made it difficult to work and I looked a little bit crazy like I was wearing a big puffy trash bag. But you know other than that, I stand behind all these crazy fashion choices I make. I appreciate every little fumble that I might make because it makes me a better person.

You’ve always been confident with your sense of style, but that wasn’t always welcomed by the media. Today, a lot of celebrities like Lil Nas X, Billy Porter, and Harry Styles are landing magazine covers and being celebrated for taking fashion risks. How does it feel to have been a trailblazer and paving the way in that arena?

Well, thank you for saying that. I mean, I’m 38. So when I think of trailblazers, I think of Elton John, and people like that, and from that era. But I’ve never felt the need to be something other than what I am. And to have the mentality that I do about life and hard work. And I don’t come from much. So I’ve always had to work for everything that I have, and to try and be the best version of myself that I can and I take no prisoners, I really try hard to be the best version of myself that I can be. And that is an authentic person. And whether it was, you know, the year 2000 or 2020, whenever it is, I’m going to give you me, and whatever that looks like at the time is what you’re going to get.

 

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Who are some people that inspire your fashion choices? 

Gaga obviously is a big one, Elton John, Karl Lagerfeld, David Bowie, Daphne Guinness, I mean that I could go on and on and on with the names but you know, as as avant-garde as some of the things that I like, I love craftsmanship. I love knowing how things were made, where they come from. I rarely will go in anywhere and just buy something just because it has a label on it. My wardrobe is high and low. It’s Bergdorfs. It’s Marshalls. It’s street corners in Taiwan. It’s vintage. It’s brand new.  It’s young designers. I love supporting young designers. But at the same time I love Hermes and I love their handbags. So I got those too. I like to really appreciate where something comes from and know how it came to be as opposed to just buying stuff because it’s in right now.

It’s been over 12 years since you first came out publicly, do you think the ice skating world has become more accepting in that time?

Absolutely! And, you know, the ability for me to stand up proudly and just be myself came from people that did that work before me. Rudy Galindo is somebody that immediately comes to mind. And while I wasn’t out to per se, in my competitive career, I was also one of those people that never wanted the primary focus of my life as a human being on being gay. I wanted to show you who I was, not what I was, if that makes any sense. And that has always just been my stance. I’m not a flag waving activist, even though I admire that life choice and I so admire anybody that’s brave enough to stand up for everyone and to be themselves and unapologetically. And I definitely have seen a change in the culture around our community. I’ve seen just the acceptance go way up.

I grew up skating in Delaware, and just seeing how people respond to me now versus then it’s just incredible what representation is done on television and in movies, and I’m so proud to be a part of this community in whatever small part I had and making things more acceptable for people. And in skating itself, since my retirement, I mean, there have been so many skaters that have come out and come out in big ways at the Olympics, or before the Olympics, and people coming out as questioning. We have a full tapestry now that’s represented in our sport. And while many people think that figure skating has a lot of gay people, we do, we don’t have as many as you would think. And just opening minds up for, you know, judges from different cultures that may not appreciate the gay community. There is definitely a movement and a support in figure skating now that was not there when I was competing. And I haven’t even been done that long. It’s just 12 years since my last Olympics. So it’s wonderful to see progress happen so quickly.

 

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Back when you were coming out, the media scrutiny was very intense. Where do you think you found the strength and resilience to maneuver through that process with such grace?

You know, with age comes so many different emotions and so many different viewpoints of what was, and I try not to be a person that dwells in the past, but I am a cancer. So I’m like a homebody nostalgic person that loves to cry. And when I look back at my time, in front of the camera, at that time in my life, and that period in history, you know, it was all about ‘Oh, he’s so gay,’ but they’d find so many ways to say I was gay without saying it, like “flamboyant”. And that was the main topic of conversation, which really did affect my coming out. I really only felt the need to come out because I wanted to lend my support to so many people that were struggling and killing themselves, ultimately, over their sexuality. Because for me, it’s never been a question. I’ve always known I was gay since I saw Richard Gere in Pretty Woman. I’m so lucky that my family has been supportive of me. 

Do any specific experiences stand out from that particular time?

My whole career judges telling me to “butch it up”, for example, and agencies telling me they wouldn’t represent me if I was gay. It was such a different time. It was acceptable to tell 16-year-old young athletes that they can’t be themselves if they want to achieve anything in this life. If anything, I’m proud that I went through it, and that there were people that had to say things like that to me, because they had to learn a lesson. And they had to learn it quickly.

Down to 2010, the Olympics, after I had the most magical performance of my life and didn’t win a medal, I had to defend the fact that I had a penis to a full press conference room because of a commentator saying that I needed to be gender tested. I mean, that’s only 12 years ago! And I’m a very strong person with very thick skin and you have to really try hard to offend me or hurt my feelings.

Looking back, that didn’t hurt my feelings or offend me, but it offended me on behalf of people that aren’t as strong as me. I still very much feel that way and feel protective of the community now especially that I have such a big soapbox to stand on as an Olympic commentator and as somebody who gets to do so many fun things like act in Night Court or do this or that series. It’s always important to me to be my authentic self, so other people feel strong enough to be themselves too.

Johnny’s episode of Night Court airs Tuesday, February 21st at 8pm ET on NBC.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Related: Johnny Weir says homophobia fueled his Olympic drive