Statement from USFS regarding Dave Lease

[BlissfulSynergy]

Has anyone banned Leese from anything?

Right. None of us possess the power to ban Lease. We can ignore and refrain from engaging with TSL. But, as I said, the platform is historically significant, and some of the coverage is topical, informative, and relevant. If only Lease could be more disciplined and less snarky, self-indulgent, gossipy, cruel, and wink-wink in his behavior.

BTW, USfigsk pulled Lease's press credentials for their events about 7 or 8 years ago, after he went too far with malicious gossip. Lease apparently learned nothing about the need to repair his own behavior and approaches to covering the sport. Apparently, Lease has never fully acknowledged his wrongdoing. He just seems to continue beefing and holding a grudge against USfigsk.

It might be more helpful for Lease to examine his own mistakes, ask forgiveness, show that he has changed, and reach out to make amends in an effort to try and work in a collaborative way toward resolving the sport's challenges. Of course that is probably too much to expect from a sly mischief-maker. Yet still, if Lease feels TPTB in USfigsk are hopeless, then he could join in a positive way with responsive collaborators in the skating community to advocate for solutions and steps toward beneficial change. Of course, this is probably beyond his capabilities and personal goals. In any case, it certainly can't happen, while Lease's own negativity, malice, vindictive gossip, and harmful digs, masquerading as cheeky irreverence, remain part of the sport's existing problems.

 

[Joekaz]

Has anyone banned Leese from anything?

The statement from USFS that is under discussion on this thread says, "We refuse to let this vile narrative (as opined by Leese) go unchallenged." This is the opinion of the US Skating Association. Skaters, coaches, parents, skating officials -- they all have their opinions on the content of Leese's message.

If someone says a cruel thing, others will say, "That was a cruel thing that you said." This is reality, not unicorns.

I was referring to many comments from fans I have seen saying he should be barred from just about anything to do with skating. Im sure you have seen them as well.

 

[Joekaz]

OT: I guess that means you're not an imaginative dreamer.

Bottom line, Dave Lease has hurt a lot of people with malicious gossip and overly negative swipes; he has also won a measure of respect and cautious acceptance from those who see and admire his knowledge and passion for the sport. I appreciate Lease's thoughtful coverage of the World Figure and Fancy Skating Championships, and the sharing of his skating lessons with Paul Wylie, et al. (which has helped me to understand in a deeper way the technical side of skating and why the sport is so difficult to master).

At the same time, I do not forgive Lease's constant negativity toward particular skaters over the years, and the way he has reveled in spreading malicious and harmful gossip. I still remember many of his worst, uncalled for slams and nastiness. Yes, he has often been enabled and weaponized by fans and by others in the skating community. But it has been up to Lease himself to learn from the error of his ways and he simply hasn't.

Maybe Lease will manage to claw his way back, but hopefully not soon, and not until he has figured out how to control his worst tendencies, and to use his knowledge and passion in more beneficial ways. It's good to critique things that need to change, but not in a perpetually bitter and vindictive tone. The Legacy on Ice memorial event was not a normal, casual event for TSL to use as fodder to nitpick. Above all, Lease should make an honest effort to stop hurting people with careless gossip and snarky slights.

In the end, as someone posted here previously, Lease is the author of his own demise. Karma has a way of clapping back when a person's own choices, words, and actions continually cross the line.

As I said. Don't watch his show and criticize him all you want. But I am just saying the people that say he should be barred fron anything to do with skating are going too far.

 

[Mathman]

I was referring to many comments from fans I have seen saying he should be barred from just about anything to do with skating. Im sure you have seen them as well.

What I have seen on this thread are mostly three types of posts.

1. What Leese said was terrible and I never liked his podcasts anyway.

2. What Lease said was terrible but I enjoy his interviews with famous skaters, etc.

3. What Leese said was terrible but everyone makes mistakes and he may be able to rebound.

All quite reasonable positions. Figure skating fans do not have the power to ban anyone from any skating related activity or social media forum. They can only expound on their views of Leese's words and on the USFSA's response. What's the beef? Leese must live in the real world, not some fairy tale where you can do anything you want and no one will ever push back.

Do people sometimes go too far in expressing and defending their opinions? Well of course they do -- that's the real world, too. Can't stand the heat? Get out of the kitchen.

 

[koheikun90]

Right. None of us possess the power to ban Lease. We can ignore and refrain from engaging with TSL. But, as I said, the platform is historically significant, and some of the coverage is topical, informative, and relevant. If only Lease could be more disciplined and less snarky, self-indulgent, gossipy, cruel, and wink-wink in his behavior.

BTW, USfigsk pulled Lease's press credentials for their events about 7 or 8 years ago, after he went too far with malicious gossip. Lease apparently learned nothing about the need to repair his own behavior and approaches to covering the sport. Apparently, Lease has never fully acknowledged his wrongdoing. He just seems to continue beefing and holding a grudge against USfigsk.

It might be more helpful for Lease to examine his own mistakes, ask forgiveness, show that he has changed, and reach out to make amends in an effort to try and work in a collaborative way toward resolving the sport's challenges. Of course that is probably too much to expect from a sly mischief-maker. Yet still, if Lease feels TPTB in USfigsk are hopeless, then he could join in a positive way with responsive collaborators in the skating community to advocate for solutions and steps toward beneficial change. Of course, this is probably beyond his capabilities and personal goals. In any case, it certainly can't happen, while Lease's own negativity, malice, vindictive gossip, and harmful digs, masquerading as cheeky irreverence, remain part of the sport's existing problems.

Sure, we may not have the power to cancel Dave, but this is an opportunity to hold him accountable for his problematic statements. He has consistently made microaggressions toward Asian skaters—suggesting they should work with choreographers like Sandra Bezic to "whitewash" their skating styles and making inappropriate remarks about Filipina American skater Jessica Calalang, such as recommending a Pocahontas and John Smith-themed program with her white partner simply because he didn’t know her background, which is the day I decided to unsubscribe to his channel.

His co-host, Jonathan Beyer, has also enabled this behavior. Rather than calling Dave out or redirecting the conversation in a more productive way, he chose to participate in the gossip and laugh along. Whether out of fear or agreement, his silence only contributed to the toxicity.

It’s reassuring to see that others recognize Dave for what he is. He comes across as bitter, clinging to a fantasy of being a "competitive figure skater" by immersing himself in gossip and acting as if he’s an insider in the sport. In reality, he's just an obsessive commentator with no real credibility.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

Sure, we may not have the power to cancel Dave, but this is an opportunity to hold him accountable for his problematic statements. He has consistently made microaggressions toward Asian skaters—suggesting they should work with choreographers like Sandra Bezic to "whitewash" their skating styles and making inappropriate remarks about Filipina American skater Jessica Calalang, such as recommending a Pocahontas and John Smith-themed program with her white partner simply because he didn’t know her background, which is the day I decided to unsubscribe to his channel.

His co-host, Jonathan Beyer, has also enabled this behavior. Rather than calling Dave out or redirecting the conversation in a more productive way, he chose to participate in the gossip and laugh along. Whether out of fear or agreement, his silence only contributed to the toxicity.

It’s reassuring to see that others recognize Dave for what he is. He comes across as bitter, clinging to a fantasy of being a "competitive figure skater" by immersing himself in gossip and acting as if he’s an insider in the sport. In reality, he's just an obsessive commentator with no real credibility.

I think Dave does have an inside in the sport based on all the gossip he knew. Sometimes on TSL, he would enjoy giving the audience bits and pieces of information but always gloating that he knew more than the audience did. Like "naa nana naaanaaa, I know something you don't." I always found that annoying

 

[TallyT]

It’s reassuring to see that others recognize Dave for what he is.

I think Dave does have an inside in the sport based on all the gossip he knew.

{yes, I know I said that was my last word, but guess what, it wasn't}

Of course he has inside links, and connections, and all those guest skaters and experts! Does anyone imagine for one minute that people within the skating community couldn't see what has been perfectly obvious to fans for years? He was useful, so they accepted (and probably in many cases listened to) it all. Let's not pretend otherwise.

He can't actually be banned from the sport as such, but I wouldn't be surprised if many of those people now wash their hands of him and he finds his access to the gossip and onside info is much harder to get now. Of course, I don't know, they may after a while just... let it slide. I hope not.

 

[Joekaz]

What I have seen on this thread are mostly three types of posts.

1. What Leese said was terrible and I never liked his podcasts anyway.

2. What Lease said was terrible but I enjoy his interviews with famous skaters, etc.

3. What Leese said was terrible but everyone makes mistakes and he may be able to rebound.

All quite reasonable positions. Figure skating fans do not have the power to ban anyone from any skating related activity or social media forum. They can only expound on their views of Leese's words and on the USFSA's response. What's the beef? Leese must live in the real world, not some fairy tale where you can do anything you want and no one will ever push back.

Do people sometimes go too far in expressing and defending their opinions? Well of course they do -- that's the real world, too. Can't stand the heat? Get out of the kitchen.

I think I pretty much agree with you, except you forgot the fans who call him all sorts of names and are gleefully hoping he's gone forever. I guess those are the going too far fans you mentioned. Lol. But, your last statement is spot on and where I am most critical of Dave. Instead of running away, he should stand up for what he said, explain any misunderstandings with what he meant, if any, and move on, whether people like it or not. My problem with the fans is that alot of the most critical ones were already holding a grudge because he dared to be critical of some skaters they evidently liked, it seemed to me. That's what I mean about the rainbows and unicorns comment. Criticism of athletes performance is part of sports, so fans shouldn't take them as personal attacks Ironically, I could take or leave Dave. The show was good when it actually talked about skating, although alot of fast forwarding was often necessary. I just think the amount of vitriol against him personally was getting out of control.

 

[Mathman]

Instead of running away, {Lease] should stand up for what he said, explain any misunderstandings with what he meant, if any, and move on, whether people like it or not.

I tried to frame a balanced, rational and dispassionate response. Here is how far I got:

Jinna Han, 13, Skating club of Boston, and her mother, Jin Hee Han.
Cory Haynos, 16, Fairfax Virginia, and , and his parents Stephanie and Roger.
Olivia Eve Ter, Maryland, November 1, 2012 - January 29, 2025.
Brielle Magdalena Beyer, 12, and her mother Justyna.

That was as much as I could bear.

 

[Joekaz]

I tried to frame a balanced, rational and dispassionate response. Here is how far I got:

Jinna Han, 13, Skating club of Boston, and her mother, Jin Hee Han.
Cory Haynos, 16, Fairfax Virginia, and , and his parents Stephanie and Roger.
Olivia Eve Ter, Maryland, November 1, 2012 - January 29, 2025.
Brielle Magdalena Beyer, 12, and her mother Justyna.

That was as much as I could bear.

So what's your point? I thought I was agreeing with you. I didn't realize I was upsetting you.

 

[Mathman]

No point, Joe.

No point.

 

[Mathematician]

I dont know who this guy is nor am I about to read through 200 comments to find out but I heard he said the victims were untalented or something which is preposterous considering Spencer Lane was jumping triple combos 2 years into his career and already competing nationally. I'm sure there were other skaters who had great potential too you never know if someone will have a random period of development/improvement so even regardless of whatever his assessment was of the current skill levels (regardless of if its accurate or inaccurate (probably not - I'm sure some were clearly presently skilled anyways)) his comments are completely ignorant concerning athletics in any case. TBH making such comments about dead children is so ludicrous and incomprehensible to me I'm thinking hes either doing it for publicity/relevance (unlikely - he is way past the point of diminishing returns here) or someone is telling him what to say for a narrative or greater media purpose and him saying no is not an option (likely IMO).

 

[Karoltyna]

I tried to frame a balanced, rational and dispassionate response. Here is how far I got:

Jinna Han, 13, Skating club of Boston, and her mother, Jin Hee Han.
Cory Haynos, 16, Fairfax Virginia, and , and his parents Stephanie and Roger.
Olivia Eve Ter, Maryland, November 1, 2012 - January 29, 2025.
Brielle Magdalena Beyer, 12, and her mother Justyna.

That was as much as I could bear.

Ig recently showed me videos of Brielle. You can say a lot but not that she wasn't talented. Mayby she would later swith to Poland if it would be too hard in US - if she would, she would dominate the national field with a good margin.

 

[Joekaz]

No point, Joe.

No point.

Ok. Btw, I think you were right about people not saying he should be banned. I went back to review comments and it seems that while many would be happy if he was, there was no direct call for it. I seem to have conflated a few people referencing a past situation with him when he was barred from some events, the current comments from the skating officials, and the level of hate and vitriol directed at him.

 

[macy]

Ig recently showed me videos of Brielle. You can say a lot but not that she wasn't talented. Mayby she would later swith to Poland if it would be too hard in US - if she would, she would dominate the national field with a good margin.

here are some of their skates from sectionals. they were incredibly talented. i'm not sure what else Dave expected out of these skaters at this level. What would have made them good enough in his eyes? These were Juvenile-Novice level skaters, not Olympic level. They were exceptionally gifted and absolutely the future of US figure skating. Everly Livingston was landing triple lutzes in intermediate and Spencer Lane landing 3-3 combos after 2-3 years of skating. making the National Development Team is the equivalent of making the old Jr. Nationals, many of which top skaters we've seen over the years medaled at or won. Jason Brown, Nathan Chen, Karen Chen, Caroline Zhang, Vincent Zhou, Madison Hubbell, Danny O'Shea, the Shibutanis, Davis and White. were they not "that good" either?

Brielle Beyer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qILwjRMGTsY
Jinna Han https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHbuTWXv1sE
Everly Livingston https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPRV_AI29c4
Spencer Lane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDo7CFHSt7E

the way the Naumovs looked at Spencer after his skate...they were so proud of him. i have no doubt he would have been one of the top US men one day.

 

[Mathematician]

P.S. even not considering talent I would rather spend thousands for my kid to skate than for example go on a yearly vacation. Its an art and a craft. Skating offers the highest level of holistic development both artistically/intellectually while learning to be healthy than any other single discipline from what I can tell now (maybe ballet or something compares?). Its an absolutely incredible gift. Talent has nothing to do with it, theres no "gamble" like he says, I will definitely be sure to put my kids in skating if they want regardless of price or talent because the lessons from such things are priceless and transcend competitive results by orders of magnitude. Again I refer to my earlier suggestion it was not his idea to say such things; it just doesnt make any sense. Either that or egregiously miscalculated publicity stunt but hard to imagine with his experience he would make such a mistake.

 

[Karoltyna]

P.S. even not considering talent I would rather spend thousands for my kid to skate than for example go on a yearly vacation. Its an art and a craft. Skating offers the highest level of holistic development both artistically/intellectually while learning to be healthy than any other single discipline from what I can tell now (maybe ballet or something compares?). Its an absolutely incredible gift. Talent has nothing to do with it, theres no "gamble" like he says, I will definitely be sure to put my kids in skating if they want regardless of price or talent because the lessons from such things are priceless and transcend competitive results by orders of magnitude. Again I refer to my earlier suggestion it was not his idea to say such things; it just doesnt make any sense. Either that or egregiously miscalculated publicity stunt but hard to imagine with his experience he would make such a mistake.

Maybe he is one of these sad people who think that it's either pro or nothing. I'm spending thousands Euros for my kid to train judo. There is very little chance he will go pro even on national level but as long as he enjoys it, I will fund his training. I don't think anyone has right to comment on this.

 

[TontoK]

What I have seen on this thread are mostly three types of posts.

1. What Leese said was terrible and I never liked his podcasts anyway.

2. What Lease said was terrible but I enjoy his interviews with famous skaters, etc.

3. What Leese said was terrible but everyone makes mistakes and he may be able to rebound.

All quite reasonable positions. Figure skating fans do not have the power to ban anyone from any skating related activity or social media forum. They can only expound on their views of Leese's words and on the USFSA's response. What's the beef? Leese must live in the real world, not some fairy tale where you can do anything you want and no one will ever push back.

Do people sometimes go too far in expressing and defending their opinions? Well of course they do -- that's the real world, too. Can't stand the heat? Get out of the kitchen.

This is the perfect encapsulation. I tend to fall in categories 2 and partly 3. Yes, I enjoyed the guests, and he may be able to rebound professionally. But as I stated earlier, I doubt he'll attract the quality of guests he's had in the past, which would eliminate the segments of TSL I value. Could he continue to with his programming by gossiping with the opera singer and that other guy (who is even worse)? Sure, there are plenty of fans who eat that up. I'm not one of them, but his over-the-top cattiness has a market. Don't believe me? There have been nearly a dozen different Real Housewives shows on television. I rest my case.

But I am flummoxed by the concept of a "ban." Ban from what? Ban how? Are we planning to dispatch armed thugs to break his arms and prevent him from posting on social media? Are we going to firebomb his internet provider? Are we going to seek a gag order? All of this talk of a ban is nonsense.

I suppose we could lobby USFSA to rescind his press credentials, but did he have those in the first place? I honestly don't know. But we can't prevent him from buying tickets to events or watching them on the internet.

We've all had a chance to express outrage. But honestly, there's no next step.

He'll decide to come back, or he won't. He'll attract guests, or he won't. He'll reevaluate his life and his brand, or he won't. You'll watch, or you won't. That last one is the only one that you, as an individual, can impact. The others are out of our hands.

 

[Skating91]

Sure, we may not have the power to cancel Dave, but this is an opportunity to hold him accountable for his problematic statements. He has consistently made microaggressions toward Asian skaters—suggesting they should work with choreographers like Sandra Bezic to "whitewash" their skating styles and making inappropriate remarks about Filipina American skater Jessica Calalang, such as recommending a Pocahontas and John Smith-themed program with her white partner simply because he didn’t know her background, which is the day I decided to unsubscribe to his channel.

Yeah, the way he goes after Asian skaters is weird. It's not just whether they skate for an Asian nation, but whether they have Asian ethnicity. He gets weird about it. He gets really negative about Sakamoto too. Doesn't respect her achievements.

 

[HeadBanger]

I think the best summation of it I've read was that Dave had been flying too close to the sun for a long time, and it finally caught up with him.

There definitely is a context element where a lot of people took something he said literally, when he was really speaking figuratively and trying to make a broader point about camps/clubs/coaches taking advantage of parents, and it's a discussion to be had (and isn't unique to figure skating), but during a tribute show is neither the time or the place for it.

Beyond that, he said other problematic things just in that clip. Not to mention the myriad of things he's said previously. So it's not just one thing. When you peddle in the sort of space he does, it's only a matter of time until the chickens come home to roost.