Kristi Yamaguchi Tweets “Dancing With The Stars” Contestant Nancy Kerrigan To “Break A Leg,” Tonya Harding Rival Says No Big Deal

The Twitterverse made a collective gasp when skating legend Kristi Yamaguchi made a bad pun in her well wishes to another skating legend, Nancy Kerrigan. Kerrigan is currently a contestant in the latest season of “Dancing With The Stars.”

Yamaguchi’s now famous tweet read, “Can’t wait to see you grace that ballroom floor, break a leg!”

FOX News said Twitterverse reacted badly with the tweet, considering the fact that even though she has good intentions, the bad choice of words seem to allude to the 1993 incident wherein Kerrigan was clubbed in the back of the knee by the former husband of her bitter rival, Tonya Harding. Harding was found to have conspired with him to do the act. The Washington Post said the incident, which happened six weeks before the 1994 Winter Games, made Kerrigan famous instead of her achievement. She earned a silver medal in the Winter Games, but never competed again for a national or international event. Kerrigan has since moved on, and even declined to pass comment about her rival’s upcoming biopic.

Reactions to the tweet were mostly in video clips and GIFs ranging from shock to embarrassment.

Yamaguchi has yet to respond to the backlash. However, it also appears that she doesn’t have to, as Kerrigan’s response showed that it was all good, the New York Post said. She wrote, “Just was looking at this, I am adjusting to new contacts...#oops! Thank you @kristiyamaguchi for the advise! It definitely is helping.”