Rapper Snoop Dogg has added fuel to the fire in the culture war over LGBTQ+ representation in children’s media. The veteran rap artist raised eyebrows once again on a recent podcast by decrieing what he considers to be gay scenes in films like Pixar’s new Lightyear, which came out last year. He was quoted in the interview as not being prepared for a particular sequence in the film and wishing that he had not sat through it with his grandson.

The Star Wars star went on the podcast with Sarah Fontenot and said he took his grandson to see the movie. According to PinkNews, the highly animated film released in 2022 is a spinoff of the Toy Story movie franchise and caused controversy when it debuted a main character in a same-sex relationship.

One of the main selling points of Lightyear was that its moviegoers would get to meet the real Buzz Lightyear, a popular character in Pixar’s Toy Story franchise, instead of watching the adventures of his toy sidekick. Disney removed the kiss from the film a few weeks after it was released, though, saying that they were not actually targeting audiences who felt strongly about not having LGBTQ+ moments in children’s entertainment.

Internal pressure at Disney was brought to bear on the company, however, as some felt that LGBTQ+ representation should have been included in the film all along. Disney relented on the issue after LGBTQ+ employee groups spoke out and the film restored the scene, which was eventually cut back in.

PinkNews reported that Snoop had trouble on a family trip to the cinema when his grandson stopped him in the middle of the film to ask how two women could have a baby together. “Why, my grandson in the middle of the movie, like, ‘Papa Snoop, how does she have a baby with a woman? She is a woman,” the rapper recounted on the It’s Giving podcast. “Oh s—, I didn’t come in for this s—. I just came to watch the g—— movie.”

He then went on to tell his grandson to “keep watchin’” because he didn’t know what to say and because, as he put it, “They just said she and she had a baby. They are both women. How does she have a baby? S—. The movie ain’t over with. I’m scared to go to the movies. Like y’all throwing me in the middle of s— that I don’t have an answer for.”

The rapper later qualified his statement to say that what really troubled him was how the movie made it seem like something odd for two women to have a baby together. It wasn’t that he had a problem with that idea in and of itself, but that it left him unprepared for questions he knew his grandson would ask. “It threw me for a loop,” the rapper said. “These are kids that we have to show that at this age, like, they’re going to ask questions. They are going to ask. I don’t have an answer. And I was just there to go to sleep and watch the movie. That s— woke me up.”

Reaction to Snoop’s Comments Over Lightyear

Right now, the rapper is facing an uncertain future in Australia, where he’s set to perform this October at the Australian Football League’s Grand Final. While Snoop is yet to apologize for the comments, PinkNews reported that AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan stood by the organization’s decision to feature Snoop Dogg as the guest of honor on the game’s half-time show.

While the AFL has in the past supported multiple initiatives to foster inclusion and diversity within its ranks, it made no indication that the rapper’s appearance would be canceled.

This is far from the first time that Lightyear has been dragged into the debate over gay representation in the entertainment industry. The Pixar studio also faced major pushback from conservatives after it included a same-sex kiss, with Disney taking the film offline. Disney restored it after Pixar staff wrote an open letter condemning the decision and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups called for more gay visibility in animated films.

Chris Evans, who voices the title character Buzz Lightyear in the film, made a statement on the controversy when Lightyear first debuted. “The real truth is those people are idiots,” Evans said to Reuters Television at the time. “There’s always going to be people who are afraid and unaware and trying to hold on to what was before. But those people die off like dinosaurs. I think the goal is to pay them no mind, march forward, and embrace the growth that makes us human.”

Lightyear ended up being a major disappointment, both critically and at the box office. After receiving just an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie’s returns did not live up to Disney’s high expectations. Lightyear has grossed $226.7 million worldwide, with the film originally projected to earn as much as four times that in its first six months of release.