When the 2024 Summer Olympic Games kicks off in Paris, France on Friday, July 26, the USA water polo team will have the backing of the best hype man in the game with Public Enemy's Flavor Flav. The unlikely partnership came about after women's team captain Maggie Steffens put out a call for financial support on social media back in May. But what Steffens almost certainly wasn't expecting was a founding member of one of the most influential hip hop groups ever to come to the team's rescue.
Since then, Flavor Flav has signed a five-year sponsorship deal as the official hype man for both the USA women's and men's National Water Polo teams. And as he prepares to cheer the women on in person and hopefully witness them win their fourth consecutive Gold Medal, the 65-year-old spoke to Men's Journal about attending his first-ever Olympics, as well as what else he's got cooking.
"Yeah I'm going to Paris for the Olympics. Can't wait to get there, never been [to an Olympics] ever a day in my life. Always seen it on TV, never in person; now I get to see it with my own eyes," Flav tells us. "Definitely extra excited for that. I’m excited for my girls, anxious for my girls, I wanna see them get their fourth gold medal—they’ve got three already—I wanna see them get their fourth one."
Until he became involved with the team, Flav had no idea the physical endurance that was required for the sport. "I learned how difficult that it is to play water polo. Seven feet deep, eight feet deep, some 15," he says. "It takes a lot of endurance to play that game and to participate in it, period."
Flav's sponsorship is also unprecedented in that he's actually the first celebrity to ever fund an Olympics team. He's now hoping that more celebrities will step forward.
"It came to me through my manager. I looked at the post and I was like, ‘Hey, know what, this wouldn’t be a bad idea to give these girls a little lift up,'" he explains. "So now I’m gonna go live it out to the max. And not only am I their sponsor until 2029, but I’m the only one that’s sponsoring an Olympic team, period."
"Maybe this will open up the doors of other celebrities like myself to just step in and help sponsor some of these Olympic teams. Not just water polo, but track and field, gymnastics, the whole kit and kaboodle. Hopefully there will be other celebs that will step up to the plate and do like me."
Ever the trendsetter, Flav says now that he's proud to be the blazing the path, so to speak. "So I’m honored, I’m honored—I’m tickled more than pink, trust ya boy. This is a big thing to me," he says.
While in Paris, which will most likely involve a jam-packed schedule, Flav also has a literal ace up his sleeve to keep him going. He recently partnered with 5-hour ENERGY to promote the brand's limited edition, custom cufflinks, which have been hand-crafted by Verstolo Fine Jewelry with 12-karat, gold-plated sterling silver.
5-hour Energy
"Right now, you know what I’m saying, we got these cufflinks we gonna put out there and I’m gonna let everybody know how much fits inside these cufflinks. We gonna try to turn the whole world onto these," he tells us, excitedly showing off his own pair. "Now each one holds half a bottle. So when you fill both of these up, both of these equals one of these," motioning to the energy drink bottle.
"Yeah, you know doggone right, I’m wearing these everywhere," Flav says, when asked if he plans on wearing them in Paris. "I’m wearing these everywhere, man!! Wearing my cufflinks around, you know what I’m saying, raise the roof! They’re great to have, you gotta get a pair for your dad, get a pair for your brother, these are the bomb."
We also got to chat with Flav about another career milestone, when he launched himself to reality TV stardom in the aughts with VH1's Flavor of Love franchise.
The reality dating series—which came about following the successes of The Surreal Life, and later Strange Love, about his relationship with actress Brigitte Nielsen—spawned a gaggle of spinoffs and still boasts an enduring popularity to this day in the streaming era.
"Honestly, to tell you the truth, I’m amazed. Because that show is over 10 years old now. I haven’t been on reality television in over 10 years," he gushes. "And for this show right now to be as big as it still is—I’m just amazed, I’m blown out of the water. I ain’t gonna say overwhelmed, but I’m overjoyed for the love and support I’ve been given from you guys, because if it wasn‘t for y’all, this show would not be what it is."
Flav also teased a possible return to the format someday. Though he declined to elaborate, he says that his next foray into reality television will ideally go beyond the dating format.
"When it comes down to reality television, I will be back with something different, something that’s going to last longer, and I feel that’s gonna be bigger, and the whole nine," he says. "As far as the dating shows, I’ve been there, done that, I’ve set the tone, and I don’t feel like I have to come back doing something that I’ve already done."
