Snoop Dogg’s reps say star’s response to backlash over LGBTQ+ comments is ‘fake’
Snoop Dogg came under fire earlier this year for criticising LGBTQ+ representation in a children’s film. (Getty)
Snoop Dogg came under fire earlier this year for criticising LGBTQ+ representation in a children's film. (Getty)
Rapper Snoop Dogg has not responded to backlash against his recent remarks about LGBTQ+ representation on screen, according to his representatives, despite a viral comment purporting to be written by the star.
Last month, Snoop Dogg faced swathes of online backlash for stating that the inclusion of queer character Alisha Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) in Disney’s 2022 film Lightyear left him “scared” to take his grandchildren to the movies.
Last week, a person appearing to operate the “Drop It Like It’s Hot” performer’s Instagram account commented under a video post by Hollywood Unlocked, which showed RuPaul’s Drag Race judge TS Madison condemning him for his remarks.
“I was just caught off guard and had no answer for my grandsons,” read the comment, which was posted by Snoop Dogg’s official account.
“All my gay friends [know] what’s up, they been calling me with love. My bad for not knowing the answers for a 6-yr-old. Teach me how to learn. I’m not perfect.”
However, according to multiple publications including Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, a representative for the 16-time Grammy award nominee has claimed that the comments made in his name are “fake”.
Speaking on the It’s Giving podcast in August, the “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?” rapper said that his grandchildren had questions about the lesbian kiss in Lightyear that the performer didn’t “have an answer for”.
“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 Dogg recalled thinking at the time: “Oh s**t, I didn’t come in for this s**t. I just came to watch the goddamn movie.”
He continued: “It f**ked me up. I’m like, scared to go to the movies now. Y’all throwing me in the middle of s**t that I don’t have an answer for. It threw me for a loop. I’m like, ‘What part of the movie was this?’ These are kids. We have to show that at this age? They’re going to ask questions. I don’t have the answer.”
Last week, Lauren Gunderson, a screenwriter who provided material for Lightyear, responded to Snoop Dogg’s comments.
“So. I created the LIGHTYEAR lesbians,” Gunderson wrote on Instagram.
“In 2018, I was a writer at Pixar – such a cool place, grateful to work there, learned a ton from kind and impressive creatives. As we wrote early versions of what became LIGHTYEAR, a key character needed a partner, and it was so natural to write ‘she’ instead of ‘he.’
“As small as that detail is in the film, I knew the representational effect it could have. Small line, big deal. I was elated that they kept it.”
She added: “I’m proud of it. To infinity. Love is love.”
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