Canadian pop star Tate McRae is facing backlash after appearing in a promotional video for Team USA ahead of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics 2026.
"I'm a bit lost," McRae tells a computer-animated white owl in the video, asking for directions to Milan to meet Team USA at the opening ceremony.
Fellow Canadians slammed the NBC video on social media, with some calling it "infuriating" and one going as far as to call it "treason". McRae was born in Calgary, Alberta, and attended high school there but she has made her music career in the US.
McRae took to Instagram to reassure fans, and shared a childhood photo of herself holding a Canadian flag, captioned: "Y'all know I'm Canadian down."
The backlash comes amid larger political tensions between Canada and the US, after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian goods and repeatedly referred to Canada as the "51st state".
