Canadian pop star Tate McRae felt compelled to respond to mass backlash over her promotion of Team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Unfortunately for her, a promise that she's "Canada down" did little to quell the accusations that she sold out her country for U.S. dollars.
This might have gone down better in another time, but political tensions between the two nations have clearly not yet settled.
"More like 'Trait McRator' AMIRITE"
In a new NBC ad for the Winter Olympics released Wednesday, the "Sports Car" singer skis up to a talking owl to ask for directions to Milan, where she planned to "meet Team USA."
"It’s the weekend with America’s best skating for gold, and Lindsey Vonn’s epic comeback," she said. "Then back to the States for the big game, Super Bowl LX."
She made sure to drop the title of her latest single, "Nobody's Girl." Instagram commenters were quick to call her out almost immediately, with comments pointing out her heritage gaining thousands of likes.
McRae might be nobody's citizen soon as Canadians rise up online to call her a traitor, or at best, a sellout.
On X, media company @MadelnCanada gained 2.6 million views with a post pointing out the contradiction.
"Team USA? Aren’t you team Canada @tatemcrae?" they asked.
"Girl, fire your PR team immediately," @michaelafreyab advised. "This is certainly a…choice."
"Tate McRae, who is from Calgary, Alberta, is doing Olympic promos for Team USA… more like 'Trait McRator' AMIRITE!" wrote @darren_fm.
"I better be finding out she has some sort of American background too, bc this actually pisses me off fr lol," said Canadian sportscaster Jackie Redmond.
Some Canadians came her home province, Alberta, for reasons only fellow northerners will understand.
"Selling out for usa is the most albertan thing she could do to be fair," said @EkbladCrave.
Tate McRae responds, but it's not enough
The backlash was so swift that McRae responded in an Instagram story just hours after the ad dropped. She dug up a cute childhood photo of herself holding a little Canadian flag with a caption reading "y'all know I'm Canada down."
Apparently, people don't know that. In replies to the news about her post, they continued asking the same questions.
"If you're from Canada why you promoting USA?" queried @sanihanii.
"Tate McRae saying she’s ‘Canada down’ after taking a massive check to promote Team USA is the definition of gaslighting," wrote @rareAURA9. "You can’t wear the red, white, and blue for NBC and then post a childhood photo with a maple leaf when the backlash hits. A paycheck is a paycheck, just own it."
At best, Americans are using the opportunity to bait Team Canada.
"I don’t blame her for picking a winner though," said @BoltsJ9. "The world can hate us all they want USA still dominate the Olympics."
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