Hip-hop artist Flavor Flav is planning a celebration in Las Vegas for the United States women’s hockey team following their Olympic gold-medal victory over Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The move comes after Donald Trump invited the team to attend his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, an invitation the athletes declined, citing “previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.”
Flavor Flav, whose real name is Williams Jonathan Drayton Jr., shared a formal invitation sent to USA Hockey outlining the proposed celebration.
“I am reaching out on behalf of Flavor Flav. First, massive congratulations on the gold!!” the email he shared on X read. “We saw the story about the men’s invite to the White House, and the not quite invite for the women’s team. Flav recently posted on social media an idea and invite for the women’s hockey team to Las Vegas for a real celebration. He always stands behind everything he says and does. 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.”
If the USA Women’s Hockey team wants a real celebration and invite ,,, I’ll host them in Las Vegas. Do some nice dinners and shows and good times. I’m sure I can get a hotel and airline to help me out here and celebrate these women for real for real. 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
— FLAVOR FLAV ⏰ (@flavorflav.bsky.social) February 24, 2026 at 3:03 AM
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The reference to a “not quite invite” appears tied to Trump’s phone call with the men’s hockey team on Sunday following their own overtime gold-medal victory over Canada, which mirrored the women’s Olympic win.
During that call, Trump invited the men’s hockey team to attend the State of the Union address and added, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that.”
Trump also joked, “I do believe I probably would be impeached,” if he didn’t invite the women’s team as well as the men. The women’s hockey team declined the invitation one day after Trump’s call.
“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” USA Hockey told NBC News. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.
“They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the women’s team declining the invitation.
Flavor Flav’s original social media message said he planned to “do some nice dinners and shows and good times” with the team and expressed hope that “a hotel and airline” might assist in organizing the celebration. He also said he wanted to “invite my Bobsled + Skeleton team too,” which secured a record six Olympic medals in bobsled.
Meanwhile, the men’s hockey team arrived in Florida on Monday just hours after winning gold, landing at Miami International Airport where celebrations were already planned. They are expected to attend events in Miami during the week.
“We’re gonna celebrate for a few days,” Jack Hughes, who scored the overtime game-winning goal on Sunday in Milan, told reporters at the airport.
This is not the first time Flavor Flav has supported American Olympians. He previously helped Olympian Veronica Fraley with rent payments while she faced financial challenges ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I gotchu, DM me and I’ll send payment TODAY so you don’t have to worry bout it TOMORROW, and imma be rooting for ya tomorrow LETZ GO!” Flavor Flav posted on X under her post.
While Flavor Flav initiated support for Fraley, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, the husband of tennis star Serena Williams, also contributed, posting a receipt showing more than $7,000 sent to Fraley. Flavor Flav later said that because 10 million people saw her tweet, her rent was “paid off for the year.”
