Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
After the U.S. women’s hockey team declined an invitation to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, Flavor Flav stepped in to invite the gold medalists to Las Vegas!
The Public Enemy co-founder took to Bluesky on Monday (February 23) with an offer that quickly gained traction. “If the USA Women’s Hockey team wants a real celebration and invite ,,, I’ll host them in Las Vegas,” Flav wrote. “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. 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾”
The post spread rapidly across social media, prompting an influx of interest from brands. Afterc countless reposts of Flav’s invitation circulated, companies including Alaska Air, Amika, Michaels, Rent the Runway, Maybelline, Resorts World Las Vegas, StubHub, Palms, OPI, Sun Bum, Solidcore, and others jumped into the comments expressing interest in supporting the celebration.
And as momentum built, Flav expanded his invitation. In a follow-up Instagram video addressed to women's hockey team captain Hilary Knight, he widened the guest list to include “all female U.S. Olympians and Paralympians.”
“Cuz this wasn’t big enough,” he captioned the video. “I wanna invite ALL the female Olympic and Paralympic medalists from the United States out to Vegas and we got you covered… we gonna do some nice dinners, throw a big party and a parade and a concert… and go to some concerts and shows.”
He added, “Thankx to all the companies and brands and musicians and entertainers who reached out. We gonna celebrate and show em SHE GOT GAME!!”
Knight responded in the comments with a flexed bicep and clapping emoji, signaling appreciation, though no official confirmation has been made that the team will attend.
USA Hockey said in a statement that the women’s team declined the State of the Union invitation due to scheduling conflicts.
“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,” a spokesperson said. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”
The men’s hockey team accepted the invitation.
During a congratulatory call with the men’s team following their gold medal win over Canada, Trump was heard laughing as he said, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team.” He added, “I do believe I’d probably be impeached” if they were not invited.
For Flav, stepping in isn’t new territory. In 2024, he publicly supported the U.S. women’s water polo team, helping fund their Olympic efforts and later hosting members of the team in Las Vegas after the Games. At the time, he said spotlighting women athletes was intentional.
“There’s a lot of women… all they want is just a chance,” he said in a 2024 interview. “So I just wanted to help out, and help give women that chance that they are looking for.”
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