The Shady Side Of Tonya Harding

The following article includes mentions of domestic violence and sexual assault allegations.

In 1991, Tonya Harding became the "first American woman to land the triple axel jump in competition" when she skated in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships (via ABC News). As a nation, we now know her better as the woman who was involved, however passively, in the "whack heard around the world" — a.k.a. the attack on Nancy Kerrigan's right knee before the U.S. National Championships in 1994, which rendered her unable to compete in the event.

For many years, Harding was considered a national pariah because of her association with the attack. She was even banned from participating in the sport of figure skating in any meaningful capacity for the rest of her life by the National Figure Skating Association (via The New York Times). In 2017, our conversations about Harding changed when "I, Tonya," a film based on her life story written by Steven Rogers, was released and received critical acclaim. It paints Harding in a more sympathetic light, explaining the hardships in her life to help us better understand her behavior. Harding even told OK! that because of the movie, "I'm just really glad that now my son can grow up knowing that his mommy wasn't a cheater."

No matter what your opinion of Harding is, there is no denying that she has a track record of questionable behavior. So, we are uncovering the shady side of Tonya Harding to get a better idea of the real woman outside of the movie script.

Tonya Harding's troubles with the law did not end in the mid-'90s. The spotlight on her struggles just moved from the sports world into her personal life. In 2000, she was arrested on a fourth degree domestic assault charge for allegedly "repeatedly punching" her boyfriend, Darren Silver, in the face and "throwing a hubcap" at him (via the Los Angeles Times). The couple had been living together for three years in Camas, Washington when the fight occurred. Silver reportedly said Harding was "hooking me like Mike Tyson" during the alleged incident, and his face was "bruised and bloodied." Harding was released from custody an hour after her arrest and ordered to appear in court. However, Seattle Pi reported that was later convicted on the charge and spent three days in jail. She was also put on two years of probation. 

Years later, Harding explained to the University Of Oregon School of Law that she was only ever the aggressor to defend herself in allegedly abusive situations. "I hate violence! I hate arguing and all that," she said. "If people call me the aggressor — it is because I said, 'No, I am not going to take it anymore!' 'Get off of me!' 'You can't treat me like this!' So, I hit back." Harding did not explicitly reference her arrest for alleged domestic violence in the interview.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

Tonya Harding has always maintained that she "had no prior knowledge of the planned assault on Nancy Kerrigan," as she said in a press conference in 1994 (via "30 For 30: The Price of Gold"). But many people think she's lying, and Nancy Kerrigan told the Daily Mail that some of those people were FBI agents. "[The FBI] told me: 'We can't give you hard proof, but we do this for a living, and we are convinced Harding knew,'" she said in a 2013 interview.

People who were once close to Harding also have a hard time believing her claims of ignorance prior to the incident. Sandra Luckow, a childhood friend and the director of "Sharp Edges" — the 1986 film about Harding's first national competition before the world knew her name — said in "30 for 30: The Price of Gold" that she tries to avoid discussing whether she thinks Harding knew about the attack beforehand, because she wants to believe the best, but alleged, "But of course she was involved." Olympic silver medalist Paul Wylie said in the film that the consequences Harding suffered for her role in the incident, like being banned from the U.S. Figure Skating Association, were "deserved." 

Meanwhile, Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gilloly, who now goes by Jeff Stone, claimed to Deadspin in 2013, "Of course she [knew]. I think most people know that she did." 

In 1994, Penthouse released a sex tape featuring Tonya Harding and her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and published stills from it in the magazine. A clip of the tape was also broadcast on "A Current Affair," per The Seattle Times. The 35-minute video "shows Tonya Harding at a Halloween party, wearing a wedding dress ... and at one point she drops the dress to her waist and is topless," the publication reported a spokesperson for "A Current Affair" as saying.

The video is called "Tonya and Jeff's Wedding Night" and has its own IMDb page. Now, we're not shaming anyone for creating a sex tape. As the Chicago Tribune reported in 1994, "The sex is consensual, but the publication is not." And that same year, Harding's manager said her client opposed the sale of the tape. "She has been offered upwards of $600,000 to pose nude and she has totally rejected the idea," said Merrill Eichenberger (via UPI). 

However, many publications, including Deadspin, who spoke to Gillooly (now known as Jeff Stone), have since reported that it's confirmed that he and Harding split the profits from selling the tape — "$200,000 apiece, plus royalties." Hmm.

For someone who said she would have allegedly "done anything [she] could to stop" the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya Harding sure does seem to love throwing shade at her former rival, even in more recent years. "She was a great skater, I was a great skater," Harding said of Kerrigan in the 2014 ESPN film, "The Price of Gold." "But of course, she was treated like this huge queen." Harding did not get the endorsement deals that Kerrigan did, even before the scandal, and quotes like that make her appear a bit bitter about it to this day.

At the Lillehammer Olympics, after Harding had admitted to the felony crime of hindering the prosecution (via The New York Times), she said in "The Price of Gold" that she tried to apologize to Kerrigan for the people she associated with when they were practicing at the same rink. "But she just blew it off like it was nothing," Harding claimed. "For her to treat me like that, like I was nothing, like she was above me, I mean that's rude."

Harding also took issue with how Kerrigan was treated at the Olympics. "She's a princess and I'm a pile of crap," the former figure skater said in the film. She also called Kerrigan a "crybaby who didn't win the gold," commenting on footage of Kerrigan appearing frustrated that Oksana Baiul was delaying the medal ceremony to put on makeup. Harding said Kerrigan should have "shut up" and stopped "whining."

The District Attorney in Multnomah County, Oregon said in ESPN's "30 for 30: The Price of Gold" that there was "strong evidence" that Tonya Harding participated in planning the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, like the piece of paper found with Kerrigan's practice rink information on it. "We had the handwriting tested and it was identified as [Tonya's] handwriting." In the same film, Harding makes the opposite claim. "They tested the handwriting and [it] was not mine," she said. Either way, it was not strong enough evidence to convict her of anything more than hindering prosecution. But that is an investigator's word against a former suspect's. Hmm.

Harding has also made serious allegations against family members. She has claimed that her deceased half-brother, Chris Davidson, sexually assaulted her in Lynda Prouse's biography, "The Tonya Tapes," and in an interview with Oregon University School of Law. Harding's mother alleged that the incident was not as serious as Harding made it seem and told SI her daughter had a "vivid imagination." Meanwhile, Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly (now Jeff Stone), claimed to Deadspin that most people "laughed" at Harding's allegation in "The Tonya Tapes" that he and two other men raped her at gunpoint. 

While it's admittedly often hard to find people close to Harding who will verify her various allegations, we should point out that there's obviously nothing funny at all about alleged rape and sexual assault, and we simply don't know the truth about any of these claims.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).