Singer Tate McRae and New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes have broken up after a brief, high-profile romance, with both sides now offering conflicting accounts of who ended it.
The 23-year-old pop artist behind "Exes" and the 25-year-old NHL center quietly called it quits, Page Six confirmed. Sources close to McRae told the outlet she ended the relationship. But Hughes has reportedly told friends a different story, that he broke things off after spotting "red flags."
Neither side's representatives commented on the split. Hughes, according to Page Six, has already moved on and started dating other people.
Hughes reportedly pursued McRae by sliding into her direct messages. By late last year, the two were casually seeing each other. Last winter, they were spotted having dinner at Anton's in New York City's West Village, described as "looking flirty."
McRae showed up at New Jersey Devils games to cheer Hughes on, and by March, an unnamed source told Us Weekly the relationship had become exclusive.
That source painted a rosy picture at the time:
"[Tate] thinks [Jack] is a really cool guy and they have been having a lot of fun together. She has been so supportive of his career and has been loving going to the games and cheering him on."
Weeks later, the relationship was over. Neither McRae nor Hughes has spoken publicly about the breakup, and the specific "red flags" Hughes reportedly cited remain unexplained.
The breakup landed amid a separate round of speculation about McRae's politics. Hughes was part of the Team USA squad that won gold at the Olympics in February, and the team took a congratulatory phone call from President Donald Trump afterward. During the call, Trump made a joke about the women's hockey team, which had also won gold, and Team USA members laughed.
That moment, combined with other factors not fully detailed, fueled online chatter that McRae was a MAGA supporter. Variety asked her about the rumors this week when she received the Triple Threat Award at the outlet's Power of Young Hollywood event.
McRae didn't take the bait directly but pointed to her charitable record:
"I like to say my piece through organizations I support and the environment that I have on tour."
She added:
"I think it's pretty obvious what kind of person I am and the things I support. And I hope that my fans can see that through the things that I'm putting my energy towards."
McRae donated a portion of profits from her last tour to the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth nonprofit, and the Global Fund for Women. The exact amounts were not disclosed.
For a young entertainer navigating a celebrity breakup in public, the political sideshow adds a layer of noise that has nothing to do with who dumped whom, and everything to do with how quickly the internet assigns tribal loyalty based on a boyfriend's phone call.
