Tonya Harding appeared on Good Morning Britain to promote the new biopic I, Tonya, but she bristled when host Piers Morgan asserted that the “real victim” in her situation was Nancy Kerrigan, “who had her Olympic dream shattered.”
Harding appeared to try to end the interview a couple times after that, but Morgan persisted, stating that she knew about the 1994 attack against fellow figure skater Kerrigan. Harding insisted that she didn’t know about the attack prior to it happening.
While the movie picked up a Golden Globe on Sunday for Allison Janney’s portrayal of her mother, and has seen its share of positive reviews, there has also been criticism of its sympathetic depiction of Harding. She was painted as the villain in the Kerrigan attack and had to go through a public shaming for it. But 25 years later pop culture is embracing her again: Sufjan Stevens wrote a song about Harding, whether she likes it or not. In a recent New York Times profile, she said she felt like the media never let her explain her side; they just wanted to know if she did it.
Harding tried to avoid Morgan’s similar line of questioning, stating that the movie is here to help victims: “I think that many people are the victims of abuse every single day and can’t stand up for themselves.”
H/T KCCI