Tonya Harding Backlash — Mother Blasts ‘Liar’ As Publicist Quits

Tonya Harding's comeback is already in trouble — with acclaim for the disgraced Olympian's biopic already being swamped by new scandals!

Tonya has been hoping for a comeback ever since her husband Jeff Gillooly tried to cripple her figure-skating rival Nancy Kerrigan right before the 1994 Olympics. Tonya was caught trying to cover for her husband — and then put on a humiliating display when still allowed to compete in Lillehammer. Now Tonya's own mother is blasting the "I, Tonya" subject as a liar!

“She’s lied so much, she doesn’t know what isn’t a lie anymore,” said LaVonya Golden to ABC News — blasting the film that's already won Allison Janney a Golden Globe for playing Tonya's estranged mom. LaVonya isn't happy with the film's depiction of her as abusive (“I didn’t abuse any of my children”), and is also blasting a scene where she's shown stabbing Tonya with a steak knife!

“She’s lied so much, she doesn’t know what isn’t a lie anymore,” said LaVonya Golden to ABC News — blasting the film that's already won Allison Janney a Golden Globe for playing Tonya's estranged mom. LaVonya isn't happy with the film's depiction of her as abusive (“I didn’t abuse any of my children”), and is also blasting a scene where she's shown stabbing Tonya with a steak knife!

“Why would I throw a steak knife at anybody?” said an angry LaVonya. Meanwhile, Tonya responded: "I don't want her anywhere near me!" But in another twist, Tonya just heard the same from her publicist — who's resigned over Tanya insisting that reporters have to pay a $25,000 fine if they violate an agreement not to "ask her anything about the past."

That would keep reporters from asking about the $100,000 fine that Tonya was ordered to pay after lying to authorities who were investigating Gillooly as Nancy's attacker. She also couldn't be asked about her amateur porn video from 1994. “Obviously," said Michael Rosenberg, “it doesn’t work that way; and therefore I’ve chosen to terminate our business relationship.”

Rosenberg is a longtime friend of Tonya's, as well — having served as her representative since the original 1994 attack on Nancy Kerrigan. Now he's leaving just as "I, Tonya" looks set to accumulate several Oscar nominations. "I am sad as I write this," said Rosenberg's statement, but adding that it was "such an adventure" to be "recreating a new positive image for [Tonya] in the public eye."