Amber Glenn Faces Backlash After Olympic Gold and Music Dispute

Music rights problems and political backlash took away from Amber Glenn's Olympic success.

A Golden Moment Overshadowed by Controversy

Amber Glenn, an American figure skater, should have been enjoying the glitz and glamour of winning a gold medal in the team event at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. What should have been a defining moment turned into a lot of scandals that brought her into the public eye for all the wrong reasons. As she celebrated her win on the ice that fateful Sunday, Glenn had to deal with more than just the usual post-competition fatigue. She also had to deal with a lot of hate for speaking out about LGBTQ+ rights and politics. Things got worse when a Canadian musician publicly scolded her for using his song without permission. It's the kind of double whammy that reminds us how messy real life can be, even in the most elegant sports.

The Unexpected Music Copyright Dispute

First, let's talk about the music issue, which seemed to come out of nowhere. Seb McKinnon, who goes by the stage name CLANN, wrote the creepy song "The Return," which Glenn had been dancing to. She had been doing it as part of her free skate routine for the past two years, and everything was going well until it wasn't. As soon as the team event was over, McKinnon wrote on X, the website that used to be called Twitter, that he was surprised and angry. I just found out that an Olympic figure skater used one of my songs in their routine without asking me first. What? It was shown all over the world. He asked, "Is that normal for the Olympics?" You can almost hear the disbelief in what he says. An independent artist doesn't wake up every day to find that their work has been shown to millions of people without them knowing.

It's not as easy to understand the rules for figure skating music as it is to nail a triple axel. Skaters can use any song they want, but it can be hard to find out who owns the rights. The producer, the record company, or even the musician themselves are sometimes in charge. When skaters combine tracks, they take bits and pieces from a lot of different places and put them together to fit their choreography. This makes it even more complicated. Services like ClicknClear, which act as middlemen to help with licenses and avoid legal problems, are meant to make this process easier. But even with those, things can still go wrong, especially when there are a lot of people involved or when agreements aren't final.

McKinnon made it very clear that he is the only one who decides what goes into his songs. He later made it clear in another post that "The agreement I have with my label is that I alone can give the OK to license my music." He didn't go all out after the first shock; in fact, he even praised Glenn's achievement by saying, "And plus she won Gold???" Big congrats. That was a very classy thing to do. To be clear, it shows that he doesn't want blood. Glenn couldn't talk about it on Monday. After taking a well-deserved break from training, she was supposed to leave Milan to get ready for the women's individual competition, which started with the short program on February 17. Associated Press reporters tried to get in touch with U.S. Figure Skating to get their thoughts on the copyright issue, but they haven't heard back yet. That silence leaves a lot of questions unanswered, like how this mistake happened after the song was used quietly for two years.

Political Statements Spark Intense Backlash

The music drama is just one part of the whole, though. Glenn's comments about politics and how they affect the LGBTQ+ community have led to more serious and personal consequences for her. As a passionate supporter of rights and an openly gay athlete, she has never been afraid to speak her mind. At a press conference before the Games even started, she talked honestly about how hard things are for the community under President Donald Trump's administration. She said it was a "hard time" for queer people, and she talked about more general issues of human rights and basic decency. She got a lot of hate mail and threats online instead of the encouraging conversation she had hoped for, which made her completely stop using social media.

Imagine looking at your phone after winning a gold medal and finding messages that wish you harm. "I was disappointed because I've never had so many people wish me harm just for being myself and talking about being decent—human rights and decency," Glenn said on Sunday. She proudly wore an LGBTQ+ patch on her team jacket during the medal ceremony and said it out loud. It's awful to think that fighting for equality could make winning an Olympic gold medal less happy. She went on to say, "That was really disappointing, and I do think it kind of lowered that excitement for this." You can't blame her; sports are supposed to be a way to escape and show off your skills, but when your identity is involved, it changes things.

But this isn't the first time Glenn has been in trouble. As one of the few openly LGBTQ+ figure skaters in the world, she has been a trailblazer, using her platform to push for more diversity in a sport that is usually very strict. Figure skating has come a long way, and more athletes are comfortable being themselves now, but events like this one show how much work still needs to be done. Many LGBT people are upset with Trump's policies and words, which have been a hot topic for them. These include talks about transgender rights and anti-discrimination measures. Glenn's comments were honest observations from someone who was living in that reality; they weren't meant to be provocative. But in today's hyperconnected world, saying them out loud brings threats and trolls, turning a moment of victory into a battlefield.

Now, Glenn will focus on the individual competitions, where she hopes to channel all of this energy into her skating. If she leaves Milan for a quieter place to train, she might be able to get her act together away from all the noise. We don't know yet if the music issue will be resolved peacefully, maybe with an apology or a license that goes back in time. It's good that McKinnon seems open to talking. The political storm is a reminder that athletes are more than just entertainers. They are people with opinions, and it is not good for anyone to try to silence them.

Brandon Williams

Brandon Williams is a sports journalist with extensive experience covering NFL, NBA, MLB, and college athletics. Known for his in-depth player profiles and game analysis, he brings both statistical insight and compelling storytelling to sports coverage.