Hip-hop artist Flavor Flav has offered to host a celebration party in Las Vegas for the United States women's national ice hockey team following their gold medal victory over Canada at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

The gesture comes after the team declined an invitation to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday, citing previously scheduled academic and professional commitments, according to USA Hockey's statement to NBC News.

Flavor Flav, whose real name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr.,^[1] shared an email on X (formerly Twitter) outlining the formal invitation to USA Hockey. The email stated: "I am reaching out on behalf of Flavor Flav. First, massive congratulations on the gold!! We saw the story about the men’s invite to the White House, and the not quite invite for the women’s team. [...] If there is an interest for the team to come to Las Vegas and celebrate with Flav – we will figure it out on our end and make it a lovely experience."

The U.S. women defeated Canada in the gold medal match on February 19, 2026, at the Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy.^[2] The men's team also beat Canada in overtime to win gold, their first since the 1980 Lake Placid Games.^[3][4]

Trump had called the men's team on Sunday after their win and invited them to the address, adding he would include the women and joking about potential repercussions.

This is not the first time Flavor Flav has supported U.S. Olympians. Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, he helped discus thrower Veronica Fraley pay her rent after her social media plea for financial assistance.^[5][6] Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian also contributed more than $7,000.

U.S. women's players are set to return to the Professional Women's Hockey League, which began its inaugural season in 2024, while the NHL resumes its schedule following the Olympic break.

Sources

1. Wikimedia Foundation. "Flavor Flav". Wikipedia. Accessed October 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavor_Flav
2. Olympics.com. "Milano Cortina 2026 venues: Santa Giulia Arena". Accessed October 2024. https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/milano-cortina-2026/venues/santa-giulia-arena/
3. Wikimedia Foundation. "Ice hockey at the Olympic Games". Wikipedia. Accessed October 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_at_the_Olympic_Games
4. International Ice Hockey Federation. "Olympic ice hockey men results". Accessed October 2024. https://www.iihf.com/en/events/olympics/history
5. ESPN. "Flavor Flav says he paid rent for U.S. discus thrower Veronica Fraley ahead of Paris Olympics". July 29, 2024. https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40462916/flavor-flav-says-paid-rent-us-discus-thrower-veronica-fraley-paris-olympics
6. USA Today. "Flavor Flav helps Olympian pay rent after viral tweet". July 29, 2024. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/07/29/flavor-flav-olympian-veronica-fraley-rent/74620713007/