Tonya Harding Opens Up About 1994 Nancy Kerrigan Attack on ABC News | THR News - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

In an interview for ABC's special 'Truth and Lies: The Tonya Harding Story,' the former champion figure skater says she overheard her ex-boyfriend and a friend speculating that someone should be "taken out" before the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Transcript

00:00I don't think that there was more than one day a week, sometimes, that I didn't get beaten.

00:07In the ABC News two-hour special, Truth and Lies, the Tonya Harding story,

00:11Tonya Harding addressed her relationship with her mother, Levana Sandy Golden.

00:15And for the first time since the release of the biopic, I, Tonya,

00:19Golden spoke out about her daughter and the movie's depiction of her as abusive.

00:23But the biggest revelation from the special might be this.

00:25Harding admitted to some prior knowledge of the 1994 attack on Nancy Kerrigan.

00:30The entire ordeal is the subject of I, Tonya. And Kerrigan herself has also finally responded to the movie.

00:36In the ABC News special, Harding said she overheard her ex-husband, Jeff Galluli,

00:41and a friend discussing taking out someone before the 1994 Winter Olympics so that Harding could get on the team.

00:47The former figure skating champion allegedly overheard the comments one or two months before the 1994 U.S. National Championships,

00:54where Harding's competitor Kerrigan was famously clubbed in the knee and taken out of competition due to her injury.

01:00Galluli and his friend Steven Eckhart later served 18-month prison sentences for conspiring to assault Kerrigan.

01:07Harding pleaded guilty and earned three years probation, community service and a $160,000 fine,

01:13though she has long maintained that she had no prior knowledge of the assault.

01:17In the new interview that aired Thursday night, Harding claims she was innocent of planning the attack, but,

01:22I did, however, overhear them talking about stuff. She added, referring to Galluli and Eckhart,

01:27they were talking about skating and saying, well, maybe somebody should be taken out so Harding can make it.

01:33When ABC News' Amy Robach asked whether she thought about those comments when Kerrigan was later attacked,

01:38Harding says she didn't at the time, though she remembered them two or three days later.

01:43And during the ABC News special, Harding's mother, Golden, disputed her daughter and the film by Tanya's depiction

01:48that she was violent and abusive with her children.

01:50How would you describe your mom as a mother?

01:54Not a good one.

01:56Harding told Robach that Golden beat her at least six times a week and once threw a steak knife at her.

02:02But her mother refuted those claims.

02:04I didn't abuse any of my children. Spanked, yes. Spanked, absolutely, positively.

02:11Golden added that she once spanked her daughter with a hairbrush but never threw a knife at her.

02:16Golden added, Harding has lied so much she doesn't know what isn't a lie anymore.

02:20Harding also told ABC News that before driving her to school, Golden would drink a thermos of half brandy,

02:25half coffee between 4.30 a.m. and 8 a.m. Golden also challenged that claim.

02:30I would have coffee and sometimes I would put brandy flavoring in it. You can't get drunk on flavoring.

02:37And although I, Tanya has received critical acclaim and a number of award nominations,

02:41Harding's former competitor at the center of it, Kerrigan, says she has neither seen the movie nor does she have any desire to do so.

02:48She told the Boston Globe,

02:49I really have nothing to say about it. I haven't seen anything. I haven't watched anything.

02:53Kerrigan also admitted to not watching the Golden Globes, where Harding herself was in attendance

02:58and I, Tanya was nominated for three awards with actress Allison Janney winning for her portrayal of Harding's mother.

03:04Kerrigan said,

03:05I'm just busy living my life.

03:06For more from the ABC News special Truth and Lies, The Tanya Harding Story, go to THR.com.

03:11Until next time, for The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.

Tonya Harding Opens Up About 1994 Nancy Kerrigan Attack on ABC News | THR News

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended