Johnny Weir Divorce Drama: Skater Opens Up About Domestic Violence and Nude Photos, Ex Victor Voronov Responds

Former couple speak out about the big breakup

By Brett Malec Mar 20, 2014 11:44 PMTags
Johnny Weir, Victor VoronovTaylor Hill/Getty Images

Johnny Weir's divorce from estranged husband Victor Voronov is getting messy.

One day after the Olympic figure skate announced he and his lawyer beau had split up after less than two years of marriage, Weir is opening up about their rocky relationship in a dramatic new interview.

"I've been having a tough time at home for a long time now, and it's something that I've kept from the public," Weir, 29, told Access Hollywood. "I was losing myself by being married to my husband. I was losing my objectives in life. I was very isolated from the world."

Weir says that although Voronov quit his law firm job to be a supportive husband, Voronov wasn't OK with Weir's busy work schedule. "He was not super-accepting of the fact I work and I have to work this week in Russia, this week in Los Angeles, next week in Tokyo, and that's something that's hard to wrap your head around," Weir said. "I was supporting two people, and whether it seems like a big deal or not, I come from a lower middle class family that has to work no matter what."

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Before Weir went to Sochi to cover the 2014 Winter Olympics, he and Voronov got into a physical altercation. "We were fighting in such a terrible way, and it did get physical on that night, and it's unfortunate that things went the way that it did because domestic violence is never the way to go. Domestic violence is never the answer and when its two men, things are different," he said. "It was usually good humored wrestling, but a few times, of course, it did get physical and...some of my closest friends have seen him hit me before."

"The night in question, my husband was very drunk and was yelling at me about my relationship with my mother and my mother was assisting me in cleaning up some financial messiness that had happened, and he was uncomfortable with that and had voiced it very clearly," Weir continued. "So, we had a fight and then I went to sleep because I had to work the next day, and he came in—very not himself—and asked me to lay with him in the biblical sense, and when I refused, the altercation between us started. I was defending myself, and it's unfortunate that there was a mark left on his body, because as soon the police came to our home, the first thing he did was show this mark, so I knew then he didn't really care that much and all he is out to do is hurt me."

As for things getting worse between them, Weir joked, "The worst he could do would be to post naked photos that we have between each other and I look flawless."

Meanwhile, Voronov responded to the divorce drama today. His crisis manager Wendy Feldman tells E News, "My job as a crisis manager is to seek a remedy and protect my client. In this case, the paperwork shows a deceptive pattern. We now will seek proper resolution as we would with any traditional couple. This case is really a true test of equal rights—in marriage and now divorce."

Feldman added, "Victor gave up his law practice to be by Johnny Weir's side. And now that Johnny has started with the low blows, my job will continue to help my client navigate the road ahead while helping him heal."