Musician calls out Olympic figure skater Amber Glenn for allegedly using his song without permission
- - Musician calls out Olympic figure skater Amber Glenn for allegedly using his song without permission
Lauren HuffFebruary 10, 2026 at 3:47 AM
0
Amber Glenn at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January 2026
Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty
Musician Seb McKinnon has questions after seeing figure skater Amber Glenn skate to his song "The Return" at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“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. “It aired all over the world... what? Is that usual practice for the olympics?”
Glenn, 26, skated to McKinnon's song during her free skate as part of the figure skating team event in Milan, Italy. Although uncharacteristic mistakes landed her in third in that particular event, Glenn eventually won gold as part of Team USA when teammate Ilia Malinin's men's free skate pushed the American squad past Team Japan to clinch the top spot.
In a subsequent tweet, McKinnon, who produces music under the name CLANN, shared that apparently after his initial callout, the Community Notes feature on the social media platform provided him with some clarity.
Amber Glenn poses with her medal at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
Matthew Stockman/Getty
“Thank you Community Notes! This is news to me," he wrote. "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."
In a third message, McKinnon shared a heart emoji and his apparent support for Glenn, writing, "And plus she won Gold??? huge contratz."
According to the , the figure skater has been using "The Return" in her routines for over two years without issue. The outlet notes that while skaters are required to get permission for the music they use, the actual process involved in doing so is complicated because of issues of who owns the master recordings, multiple parties being involved in rights ownership, skaters sometime using alternative versions of a song or piecing different ones together, and more.
A representative for Team USA and Glenn did not immediately return Entertainment Weekly's request for comment on the matter on Monday.
Glenn isn't the only one to run into potential issues with music usage rights. Spanish athlete Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté's Despicable Me-inspired figure skating routine hit a snag upon running into copyright clearance issues just before the Olympics began.
At the time, he claimed via social media that he "followed all required procedures and submitted my music through the ISU ClicknClear system back in August," and that he "competed with this program throughout the entire season."
Nevertheless, he shared, "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."
Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.
Last week he revealed a happy ending, though. "I am very happy to announce that we have made it: we have obtained the licenses for all four musical pieces, and I will be able to skate my Minions program at the Olympic Games," he announced Friday on Instagram. "It has not been an easy process, but the support from everyone who has followed my case has been essential in keeping me motivated and optimistic throughout these days."
He specifically thanked Universal Pictures, ClicknClear, RFEDH, Sony Music, Juan Alcaraz, and Despicable Me 2's Oscar-nominated "Happy" singer Pharrell Williams for the positive resolution.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
