Hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg is the latest public figure to make a splash with negative comments about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters in children’s films. Pixar’s recently released Lightyear is the main focus of his latest podcast conversation, in which the veteran rapper described walking his grandson to see the movie at the theater.

The picture, which serves as a new spinoff from the successful Toy Story franchise, was a favorite target for Snoop, who stated that he found the character of a woman in a same-sex relationship, and a kiss between two women in the film to be “gay for gay’s sake.” The animated film ended up deleting the LGBTQ+ moment, then later re-inserting it after internal and external complaints.

Hip-hop star Snoop Dogg recently said he ‘doesn’t have an answer’ for the LGBTQ+ moment in Lightyear (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

As he recalled in an episode of It’s Giving podcast last week, Snoop’s grandson questioned him in the middle of the film, leading to the rapper having to “come back with some answer” that he was not ready for. “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 Grammy Award-winning rapper continued on the podcast. “Oh s—, I didn’t come in for this s—. I just came to watch the g—— movie.”

The Grammy Award-winning rapper said he was left speechless when his grandson asked him the question in the middle of the movie (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Creative Length)

“I got nothing, son,” Snoop told his grandson, saying that he had him “sit back down and chill out” until he finished the film. “They just said, and she had a baby,” the rapper explained in the podcast. “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, who was raised as a Christian, went on to say that it was not the fact that his grandson was asking the questions he was unprepared to answer, but more that kids asked questions like that. “It threw me for a loop. 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,” Snoop said. “That s— woke me up.”

Reaction to Comments and Broader Argument Over Inclusion

Progressive fans on social media have reacted strongly to Snoop Dogg’s anti-LBGTQ+ comments, especially given the fact that he has been booked to perform at an Australian Football League (AFL) Grand Final game this year. As PinkNews reported, AFL head Gillon McLachlan quickly defended his organization’s choice to keep Snoop on the lineup as a guest performer.

When conservatives decried Lightyear for featuring an LGBTQ+ moment (Photo by Alastair Galbraith/Getty Images for HFPA)

The AFL has invested in various inclusion and diversity campaigns in recent years, and given that Snoop Dogg’s concert contract for the event is final, the league has not indicated a change of course or potential cancellation. It was not the first time Lightyear made the news due to the two women kissing and having a baby in the animated movie.

Conservatives pounced upon the film’s release in June 2022, with some parents claiming the very idea that two women can have a child together is offensive and age-inappropriate. While these protests ultimately led to Disney pulling the same-sex moment from Lightyear, the company decided to restore the scene due to objections from Pixar staff and LGBTQ+ activist groups.

Buzz Lightyear actor Chris Evans did not hold back his own views on the matter back in June 2022. During a Reuters Television interview, the Marvel actor was critical of those parents complaining about the LGBTQ+ scene. “The real truth is those people are idiots,” Evans said of the conservative parents. “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.”

The film was essentially about the “real” Buzz Lightyear — the science-fiction character from outer space who serves as the inspiration for the Buzz Lightyear toy from Toy Story. Despite big-budget marketing and one of Pixar’s most recognized characters at the center of the feature, the film was a box office disappointment, grossing $226.7 million worldwide. It was a project that received generally mixed reviews from critics as well.

What Snoop Dogg and Others Want to See vs What Progressives Believe is Inclusive Entertainment

His comments add another twist to the discussion about how LGBTQ+ people are depicted on screen, particularly in family and children’s films. On one side, this is an opportunity to showcase a new family structure and normalize diversity among kids from a young age. For Snoop Dogg and like-minded conservatives, films like Lightyear are “thrusting” discussions that adults are not ready to answer at the family level.

As the AFL Grand Final performance is already booked and shows no sign of being cancelled, it appears that Snoop Dogg is not backing down from his latest interview comments. It remains to be seen if there will be any reaction in Australia, but more people have woken up to the rapper’s non-apology for the LGBTQ+ content in Lightyear.