“Welcome to My World” honestly discusses your humble roots, romantic interests, and well-known friction with skating authorities. Has the response to the book matched your expectations?
I’ve had so much good, positive feedback. People are really excited about it. Unfortunately, the press is focusing on “coming out” in the book and I never really lived “in” [the closet]. It’s actually the story of a two-time Olympian from a really small town, and how I made myself into who I am. Through the trials and tribulations with the figure skating world and a lot of mistakes I’ve made, my fans can see that no matter how many times I’ve fallen down, I get back up every time.
Did you have a ghostwriter?
I didn’t. I had somebody help me organize my thoughts. I haven’t been home for more than three days at a time since February last year, so I did have someone who was helping me with a Dictaphone, organize what I wanted to say, then I wrote it down in my own words. Of course, I was edited and people helped me out, but there was no ghostwriter.
Sorry, but I do have to ask about the gay part. I just want to know about the timing. Why now? Why in a book format? How did you decide to put that label on yourself that you’d resisted for so long?
I never kept anything a secret, really. I’m upset that a lot of people think I’ve now quote-unquote “come out” because I was selling a book and we thought it would sell more copies. That’s completely false and untrue. I couldn’t write my life story without discussing my personal relationships and my thoughts on love. People will have their own opinion as to: Why? Why now? Why so late? But I’ve never wanted to be anything other than Johnny Weir and I don’t celebrate being gay as one of the most important things about who I am. Just because it’s in the book doesn’t necessarily mean it’s of huge importance to me. It’s just a part of my life that I wanted to write about, the same as writing about the failure that was my first Olympic Games. It’s no different, it’s just a story.
Also on January 11, you released a song, “Dirty Love.” You wrote the lyrics and sang, but who wrote the music?
Lucian Paine, a producer from LA. He produces RuPaul’s music and has scored movies. He’s working on a project with Mr. Schuester, Matthew Morrison from “Glee.” He gave me a great beat, and helped me write lyrics when I was a little bit lost. So many people are having fun with it. That’s all I really wanted. I don’t care if I sell one cent or one million cents for this song. I just wanted to do it so people could dance and have fun.
What’s the inspiration behind it? What’s the underlying story?
For me, “Dirty Love” is not a sexual thing. The song is about having two faces and having to play a game. Really, I was inspired by my relationship with US Figure Skating. I constantly would tell them what they wanted to hear, then did exactly what I wanted to do. And that’s what the song’s about.
There are two mysterious words in the lyrics. What is “but agnyom?”
It’s Russian and means, “Make it hot.”