Feb 26 (Reuters) – Rapper Flavor Flav will host a Las Vegas event in July to honour the U.S. women’s ice hockey team’s gold medal victory at the Milano Cortina Olympics.
The Hall of Fame rapper announced on social media platform X on Thursday that he will host a “She Got Game” weekend event from July 16-19 in partnership with MGM Resorts to honour the women’s hockey team and other female athletes.
The 66-year-old artist is a longtime women’s sports supporter and he also launched a GoFundMe campaign to support U.S. women’s Olympic medallists.
“Many of y’all asked how you can support and donate to our female athletes and the celebrations. So I created a Go Fund Me. I’m hopeful this can have an impact beyond the weekend and help those that represent the best of the U.S.,” he wrote on X.
Reuters sought comment from USA Hockey regarding whether the full 23-strong squad will be attending the event. However, they did not immediately reply.
Flav, a founding member of the pioneering hip hop group Public Enemy, offered the squad a Las Vegas trip for “a real celebration” with dinners and shows, sharing a formal email he said was sent to the players.
The invitation came shortly after the women’s team declined to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
USA Hockey cited logistics and travel issues in politely declining the invitation for the women to join the men’s gold medal-winning team at the address.
Trump’s invitation came late Sunday during a locker room call congratulating the men’s team on their 2-1 overtime victory over Canada. The women’s team also beat Canada by the same score and in overtime three days earlier.
“We’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that,” Trump told the men’s team during the call with FBI Director Kash Patel present, later joking he would “probably be impeached” if he didn’t extend the invitation.
A reference to Trump’s remarks appeared in the message shared by Flav, who served as official hype man for the U.S. bobsleigh and skeleton teams at the Milano Cortina Games and previously supported the women’s water polo team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
