the figure skating tea is scalding right now. i've got questions.
The news of a new Canadian pairs team's controversial forming is the messiest thing that’s happened in this sport in years.
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For all of its excessive politics, theater and sequins, the world of figure skating is generally a relatively insular and genteel one, at least from the outside looking in. Most of the ugliness gets swept under the rug or left backstage, and onlookers are left blinded by the glare reflecting off the sport’s heavily bejeweled costumes.
This past week, the announcement of the pairing of Vanessa James and Eric Radford as a new pairs team that will compete for Canada in an attempt to earn a place to compete in the next Olympics tore that script to shreds.
Rumors of the pairing of James and Radford, two athletes in their mid 30s who have already competed in a combined five previous Olympics, began circulating a few weeks back, but the chatter reached a fever pitch when Radford’s (now former) partner Meagan Duhamel posted a vague message about how “betrayal has me feeling numb and shocked” last Monday.
Two days later, Duhamel’s vague-posting suddenly made sense when the Canadian figure skating federation officially announced the James-Radford partnership. The federation’s announcement was accompanied with a blitz of Instagram posts from both James and Radford featuring a fresh photo shoot of the pair, a puff piece of a YouTube interview on CBC’s That Figure Skating Show and an impressive supercut of clips of the pair practicing together hitting social media.
The new pair reportedly first considered the idea of skating together when they were filming a Canadian figure skating reality show together last fall. As Radford tells it, they originally were exploring a partnership to skate in future shows, but because of the way they gelled together, a competitive return presented itself as a promising opportunity. When James, who was born in Canada but competed for France for the past decade plus, suddenly received the required release from the French figure skating federation allowing her to compete for Canada going forward with no trouble or back and forth, it was all systems go.
Duhamel maintains in social media posts that she was “blindsided” by the decision of her former partner, with whom she won an Olympic bronze medal in 2018, a prize that typically would lead to a lucrative career of performing in shows and special events. In an Instagram post published within hours of the team’s announcement, she said she and Radford had made verbal agreements to skate in shows in the near future, and that she had only learned of the pairing once it was already finalized thanks to the French federation granting James’ release.
“The professional skating career that Eric and I worked so hard for has now come to an abrupt end and that breaks my heart and hurts me so deeply,” Duhamel wrote. “I wish Eric happiness in his new adventures.”
For his part, Radford responded to Duhamel’s posts by saying that he “got nothing but positive support from Meagan” when he told her the news just after the release was granted and the partnership was final. He went on to say that Duhamel had expressed reservations about touring pre-COVID due to her being a new mom (she gave birth to her first child in October 2019), and that this, accompanied with her move to a different city from where he lives and her “express[ing] that she wants to grow her family,” indicated to him that their professional partnership “was no longer sustainable.”
“The opportunity to compete with Vanessa ignited a new excitement and curiosity toward exploring my own skating,” Radford continued. “Meagan and I achieved amazing things together in skating but that story ended when we retired and this doesn’t take anything away from what we accomplished.”
See also: Figure skating’s culture of abuse continues to transcend accountability.
Now, all of the above just scratches the surface of what makes this situation an absolute, mind-boggling mess. To add:
James’ partnership with her previous partner, Morgan Cipres, ended because he was credibly accused of direct messaging photos of his penis to a 13-year-old female skater who trained at the same rink of him. He was charged with felony transmission of material harmful to a minor by electronic device last December. James has never publicly acknowledged Cipres’ sex abuse charge, but her social media activity has indicated her ongoing support of Cipres.
One of James and Radford’s coaches, Julie Marcotte, previously coached and did the choreography for Duhamel and Radford’s competitive programs for their entire career. Additionally, Julie is the sister of Duhamel’s husband of six years, Bruno Marcotte.
Canada has only qualified two spots for pairs teams to compete in the next Olympics. Reigning national second-place finishers Evelyn Walsh and Trennt Michaud, who just placed twelfth at the World Championships, would likely be in line for one of those spots were it not for James and Radford gunning for the Olympics as well. Radford has worked closely with Walsh and Michaud in recent years, serving as a mentor.
Basically, there are a lot of layers to this thing and very little in the way of real journalism to tease it out. I’ve got questions:
How did James’ release from the French federation happen so quickly? What were the financial terms?
Did the Canadian federation have concerns about what James and Radford’s pairing would mean for Walsh and Michaud, or the longevity of Canada’s pairs program more broadly?
What did or didn’t James know about Cipres’ alleged sexual abuse of a minor skating at their same training facility? Does James believe Cipres is innocent?
Is it true that Radford also allegedly courted eventual Olympic champion Aljona Savchenko for a possible partnership in 2014, as some are suggesting?
How will fans react to this new pairing? Is it just Skating Twitter that’s mad?
Who knew Canadians would be the ones bringing the off-season figure skating tea? It’s hard as an outsider to know exactly what went down when in situations like these, but it’s plain (to me) to see that Radford’s timeline of events hasn’t always been super consistent or clear. If nothing else, the communication could have been better. And until some of the above issues are actually addressed, there will likely remain something of a cloud over this new pairing.
Short of clarity on the above questions, I’ll just be over here snacking on popcorn and waiting for the next skate to drop.
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I apologize for missing last week — I was coming down from my second dose of the COVID vaccine (I’m now a fully-vaxxed Pfizer girl) and experiencing some minor side effects (mainly fatigue), so a break felt right. For what it’s worth, those arm circles going around on TikTok helped me experience minimal “COVID arm,” too. And in full transparency, I will also say that my attempt at watching and ranking every single one of Kelly Clarkson’s “Kelly-oke” segments had me descending into madness. I’m not sure if that will ever see the light of day, though her “Nothing Compares 2 U” ate.
Time for a link dump.
Last week, Derek Chauvin was convicted of all three charges he faced in the death of George Floyd, an exceedingly rare outcome as, since 2005, only seven other officers have been convicted of murder in police shootings. The decision sparked some truly bizarre and vile statements from politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and was followed that same day by yet another police officer snuffing out yet another Black life: this time, that of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant.
A lot of media coverage of Bryant’s death at the hands of police has painted the 16-year-old as an adult or a threat, but it’s important to remember that 16-year-olds are still children. As the New York Times points out, this coverage is typical of the “adultification bias” most Black girls experience while growing up. The conversation in the Times between Dr. Jamilia Blake and Dr. Monique Morris provides incredibly important context for how this shooting is being talked about.
Vice just released a mini-documentary on the making of Vanessa Carlton’s iconic hit “A Thousand Miles,” and a perceptive TikToker noticed that when Carlton said the song was written about a “famous actor” Juilliard classmate she had a crush on, she used the pronoun “they” instead of “he.” Media outlets, to that point, were only naming male actors as the song’s possible muse, despite the fact that Carlton is bisexual. Also, as the video notes, “Walking fast!?! Straight people don’t walk fast.” Anyway, watch the whole thing here and ponder, for a moment, that “A Thousand Miles” might just be inspired by Jessica Chastain.
I don’t watch the show Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (and didn’t realize it hadn’t been canceled yet) but for some reason Bernadette Peters was just on the show singing Sia’s “Cheap Thrills.” It’s worth every single second, regardless of any context.
Janet Jackson is auctioning off hundreds of personal items for charity and among them are this incredible drawing of her sister, La Toya. It can be yours (currently) for $1,000, or maybe a clown doll or some foreplay dice are more up your alley.
It seems like each week the pandemic rolls on, the Times comes up with a new depressing word to describe the strange mental misery of sustained human existence in these times. The latest word from the Grey Lady? The languishing. Honestly, this might be the most accurate one yet.
The cast of Grey’s Anatomy put together the below video honoring GLSEN’s Day of Silence, and I just can’t look away. They’re literally just. sitting. there. staring. into. the. middle. distance. Maybe the rights to “Imagine” couldn’t be secured in time? The day raises awareness of the obviously worthy issue of anti-LGBTQ harassment and bullying in schools, but… there has got to be a better way, GLSEN.
Grimes got her back tattooed with “beautiful alien scars” and I’m just over here wondering, still, why wealthy celebrities tend to get the most questionable ink.
Demi Lovato got into a feud with an LA frozen yogurt shop because the pop star accused the business of partaking in “diet culture” because it was promoting its sugar-free, dairy-free and gluten-free options. Lovato went on to record a nearly nine-minute apology video, which is probably eight minutes longer than any apology video ever needs to be. Incidentally, the shop (The Bigg Chill) has been overwhelmed with support and grew its social following from 6,000 to 42,000+ as a result, according to the LA Times.
Apparently nobody typically in the know about such matters has any idea what type of jeans are in style right now, so maybe we should all just stick to quarantine sweats?
The song of the week this week takes the form of rising Japanese-British hyperpop star Rina Sawayama’s stunning Tiny Desk (Home) Concert, just dropped on NPR Music’s YouTube channel. The set-ending song “Chosen Family,” which caught the eye of Elton John, is especially poignant for those of us missing someone right now.