Journey with me for a moment to the not-so-distant past, June 2022 (I know, if only). Pixar released Lightyear, a Toy Story prequel that told the tale of the “real life” Buzz Lightyear. This was a movie primarily made for children, but it was a small-minded subset of adults who threw a hissy fit. What was the problem, Houston? Well, one of the main characters was a woman married to another woman — GASP! — and in a montage sequence there was a brief kiss between the spouses. Pixar’s parent company Disney tried to cut the scene, but Pixar’s staff and the film’s stars stood tall against the Mouse and the scene was kept intact. And Snoop Dogg has been “scared to go to the movies” ever since!! At least that’s what he just said on the It’s Giving podcast. Snoop took his grandson to see the movie when it came out (wink!) and was entirely flummoxed on how to discuss a same-sex relationship with the kid.
Snoop Dogg says he’s “scared to go to the movies” due to what he perceives to be an increase in LGBTQ+ representation in children’s films.
“What you see is what you see, and they’re putting it everywhere,” he said on a recent episode of the It’s Giving podcast.
The rapper and pop culture personality described taking his grandson to see 2022’s Lightyear, and being shocked to discover that one of the animated film’s protagonists has two mothers.
“They’re like, ‘She had a baby — with another woman.’ Well, my grandson, in the middle of the movie is like, ‘Papa Snoop? How she have a baby with a woman? She’s a woman!’”
Snoop recalled thinking, “‘Oh sh–, I didn’t come in for this sh–. I just came to watch the goddamn movie.’”
But his grandson pressed on, asking, “‘They just said, she and she had a baby — they’re both women. How does she have a baby?’”
The rapper reflected that the experience “f—ed me up. I’m like, scared to go to the movies. Y’all throwing me in the middle of sh– that I don’t have an answer for.”
“It threw me for a loop. I’m like, ‘What part of the movie was this?” Snoop continued.
The “Gin and Juice” rapper and The Voice coach elaborated on his reluctance toward LGBTQ+ representation in films like Lightyear, saying, “These are kids. We have to show that at this age? They’re going to ask questions. I don’t have the answer.”
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to a representative for Snoop for comment.
…The comments by the 53-year-old rapper, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., have led to calls for him to be replaced as the headline entertainer at the upcoming Australian Football League’s Grand Final. The rapper has previously been criticized for homophobic and transphobic remarks, such as calling Caitlyn Jenner a “science project,” and using an anti-gay epithet in a 2014 Instagram caption.
Sigh. Taking it sentence by sentence: “These are kids.” Yes, the little sponges who aren’t born hating people but have to be taught that kind of behavior. “We have to show that at this age?” I went to school with the same core group of kids from age two to 14. One girl in this group had two moms. I can’t remember any instance, not one, of there being confusion over the situation. We were like, “Jessica has two moms. OK!” Again, see earlier comment on kids having to be taught certain behaviors. “They’re going to ask questions.” Isn’t that pretty much all kids do? Until they become teenagers and then don’t speak for five years straight? “I don’t have the answer.” That’s on nobody but you, Calvin. I did a little snooping (I will never surrender my right to pun!) and found that Snoop is likely referring to his oldest grandchild, who would have been seven at the time. I already knew a lot of gay people at that age, but obviously people are raised in different backgrounds. This kid did exactly what he was supposed to do — he asked a question. It was the adult who didn’t meet the moment.
As of this writing, the Australian Football League hasn’t made any announcements/changes re Snoop Dogg, BUT they’ve already suspended one athlete this week for using a homophobic slur. Also, the It’s Giving podcast has cut Snoop’s Lightyear comments from their YouTube post of the episode. Guys, it’s so much easier NOT being a bigot, I promise!
Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon, Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images