Tate McRae

The Calgary-born singer appeared in an NBCUniversal campaign featuring Team USA athletes ahead of the 2026 Winter Games, with no Canadian athletes mentioned in the advertisement. Canadians accused her of turning her back on her country, with some using the nickname 'Traitor McRae'.

State of the evidence

Documented

Internet users began labelling McRae 'MAGA', citing her collaboration with Morgan Wallen, her alleged relationship with hockey player Jack Hughes, certain likes and the Hughes brothers' presence at the White House. The controversy intensified when she avoided an explicit denial in an interview.

State of the evidence

Documented

A sponsored video presented as McRae's post-concert Neutrogena routine was widely mocked because viewers felt that she avoided actually wiping off her makeup and kept her face visibly made up while applying the products.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

A version of the album So Close to What circulated illegally several weeks before its release. McRae publicly responded to the leak, and some songs were modified, added or redistributed between editions before official publication.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Protagonist is the victim

The announcement of McRae's collaboration with Morgan Wallen on What I Want triggered strong reactions among some of her audience because of Wallen's history, notably his recorded use of a racist slur and previous personal scandals.

State of the evidence

Documented

Following the end of McRae's relationship with The Kid LAROI, the closely timed releases of LAROI's A Cold Play and McRae's Tit for Tat prompted interpretations that the two artists were publicly responding to each other through their songs.

Attribution

Personally implicated