Musician Seb McKinnon Calls Out Olympic Gold Medalist Amber Glenn for Allegedly Using His Music Without His Permission

NEED TO KNOW

• American figure skater Amber Glenn used musician Seb McKinnon's song "The Return" during her free skate at the 2026 Winter Olympics
• Canadian artist Seb McKinnon used X to ask why the pro athlete allegedly used his music without his knowledge
• The 26-year-old Texas skater won gold as a member of Team USA in the team event

Canadian musician Seb McKinnon called out ice skater Amber Glenn, claiming she used one of his songs during the 2026 Winter Olympics without his permission.

On Sunday, Feb. 8, Glenn, 26, skated to McKinnon's song "The Return" during the team event in Milan, Italy. Shortly after the event, which saw Team USA come out on top and win a gold medal, McKinnon accused Glenn of using his song without his permission.

“So just found out an Olympic figure skater used one of my songs without permission for their routine,” the Canadian artist wrote on X on Sunday, Feb. 8. “It aired all over the world... what? Is that usual practice for the olympics?”

PEOPLE reached out to the Olympics for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. Reps for Glenn and McKinnon could not be reached. 

McKinnon, who works as an illustrator, is also a producer for CLANN.

Competing skaters are responsible for making sure that their music meets all copyright criteria, NBC DFW reported on Monday, Feb. 9. Glenn has been using "The Return" for her free skate for the past two years, per the Associated Press.

In a follow-up tweet, McKinnon shared that the online community provided a bit of clarification.

“The deal I have with my label is that I alone can give the ok to license my music. I thought since this was on TV, that it fell under some kind of synching. But it seems to be the same thing as radio? Glad to understand it more,” he wrote, in part. 

McKinnon later sent a third message, this time, sharing his support for the young sports star.

“And plus she won Gold??? huge contratz,” he wrote, adding a red heart emoji.

Glenn is the first openly queer woman to represent the U.S. in Olympic figure skating. When asked about President Donald Trump's treatment of the LGBTQ community on Feb. 4, Glenn said it has been a "hard time" and she hoped to use her platform “to try and encourage people to stay strong.” On Feb. 7, Glenn said she received a "scary" number of threats and social media hate after making her comments.

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Glenn is also not the first figure skater to come under fire for the use of licensed music. 

Days before the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics began on Feb. 6, Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté received "incredibly disappointing" news that his Minions music was not cleared for copyright issues, meaning he had to hurry to make changes to his pre-planned performance. 

The 26-year-old claimed via social media that he "followed all required procedures and submitted my music through the ISU ClicknClear system back in August," ahead of his debut, noting that he "competed with this program throughout the entire season."

"Unfortunately, just days before the Olympic inauguration, I was informed that I am no longer permitted to use this program due to copyright clearance issues," Sabaté said.

He later received approval for the music.

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan-Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.

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