Tonya Harding Nancy Kerrigan Attack: Twenty Years Later, Harding Tells People to "Get Over It"
Twenty years ago, Tonya Harding faced the scandal of her life when she was accused of aiding an attack on Nancy Kerrigan, her skating rival. Yesterday, Harding took a walk down memory lane.
During an interview with Access Hollywood Live, Harding stuck to her story, saying that she had nothing to do with the attack on Kerrigan. Despite her denial, many still believe Harding wanted Kerrigan hurt, especially since a note written in Harding's penmanship found in Kerrigan's practicing rink seemed to implicate her.
"If they proved that I had done something wrong, how come I wasn't in jail?" Harding said. "They gave me 500 hours of community service. They sure nailed everybody else for doing things."
Harding does not care that her reputation is spoiled in the eyes of some Americans.
"I don't care," she explained. "Everybody is entitled to their opinion. It was 20 years ago. We both have gone our separate ways. Get over it, okay? Its 20 years. I'm sure that she's done, and I am too."
The 43-year-old two-time Olympian said she did not warn anyone about the planned attack because she was scared of her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly.
"He said, 'You will do what I say or I will kill you,'" Harding explained. "You got 10 witnesses and the police standing right there, and he's like, 'I'm gonna kill you or I'm gonna break your legs' [and] nobody helps you? Why do you want to help if you can't get any protection?"
In addition, in her 1998 book, The Tonya Tapes, Harding claims that Gillooly raped her with the help of two other men. According to Harding, she was raped for speaking about Kerrigan's attack, but Gillooly (whose name is now Jeff Stone) denies this.
"My woman's virtue was gone after that point," Harding said of the alleged rape.
Twenty years after glory, fame, infamy and accusations, Harding is enjoying a normal life as a wife and mother.
"I love being a mommy, and I like to do landscaping in the summertime, and then I kind of do these fire starters where I dip pinecones in scented wax," she said.
Check out the full interview here.