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Alberta’s Tate McRae found herself in hot water this week after the 22-year-old musician appeared in an NBC ad highlighting the 2026 U.S. Winter Olympics team. And after a sustained social media response criticizing her apparent endorsement of the United States over her home country, McRae took to Instagram to respond.<\/p>\n
“Y’all know I’m Canada down,” she wrote in a story on Wednesday, sharing a photo of her as a small child holding a Canadian flag.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the NBC ad, McRae appears on a mountain in a red ski outfit, speaking to an owl perched on a sign post for the Olympic co-host city of Cortina.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’m trying to get to Milan for an amazing opening ceremony and meet Team USA,” McRae says in the ad. “Then it’s the weekend, with America’s best skating for gold, and [American alpine ski racer] Lindsey Vonn’s epic comeback. Then back to the States for the big game: Super Bowl LX.”<\/p>\n
Some voiced their criticism of the spot both in the comment section of the ad posted to McRae’s Instagram<\/a>, and via their own platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “That is some traitor s–t I just saw, big bro,” said Canadian actor Jack Innanen in an Instagram story. “That is a crazy time to go and support the United States in place of Canada on an international stage \u2014 a country that directly threatens your own.”<\/p>\n In an interview with CBC News, Canadian pop culture commentator Liz Duff said it’s that last aspect that is largely fuelling the response to McRae’s appearance in the ad. <\/p>\n Given U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada<\/a>, the ongoing trade war<\/a> and an increased focus on what distinguishes Canadian culture from American culture<\/a>, Duff said, the relationship between the two countries is especially frayed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n At the same time, McRae, who is from Calgary, largely based her early career image as being adjacent to Canada, Duff said. Her album Think Later was expressly branded with hockey-related themes, while her single Exes was centred on the aesthetics of the Calgary Stampede.<\/p>\n And while the singer now lives in Los Angeles, she is regularly spotted at Calgary Flames hockey games. All that \u2014 accidentally or by design \u2014 built a certain expectation around McRae, Duff said.<\/p>\n “She is so what a Canadian pop star looks like, sounds like and is in the modern age,” Duff said. “So seeing her do a direct endorsement for Team USA going into the Olympics \u2014 when we’re feeling Canadian pride at its peak \u2014 just was such a shock to the system for fans across Canada, and frankly around the world.”<\/p>\n Gen Z context<\/p>\n What’s particularly interesting, Duff said, is the ages of those involved. <\/p>\n McRae is far from the first Canadian to have their loyalty questioned in the current fractious relationship between Canada and the United States.\u00a0Last year, Ontario singer-songwriter Josh Ross was forced to apologize for calling the U.S. the best country in the world, while carrying an American flag onstage at an Indiana\u00a0music festival. <\/p>\n And hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky has faced an extended campaign of criticism for his seemingly cozy relationship with Trump and his administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, Duff said, McRae and Innanen’s similar ages highlight a new aspect of the situation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n “[Innanen is] in the same age range as Tate McRae and has a similar demographic of fans that are following his career,” she said of the social media influencer and actor, who appears in FX’s series Adults. <\/p>\n “Seeing him kind of take a shot and call out Tate McRae for endorsing Team USA to me was, like, a huge moment for Canadian pop culture \u2014 and seeing where Gen Z’s pop-culture allegiance is falling.” <\/p>\n Tate McRae’s label did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CBC News. <\/p>\n