Rapper Snoop Dogg is at the center of a new controversy over LGBTQ+ representation in children’s films after attacking Pixar’s 2022 sci-fi adventure Lightyear on a recent podcast. Appearing on It’s Giving with Sarah Fontenot last week, the hip-hop legend explained that he had taken his grandson to see the animated film but felt at a loss after having to answer his child’s questions about a same-sex couple featured in the movie.

Lightyear, which is a spinoff of the enormously successful Toy Story franchise, included a minor character in a same-sex relationship. When one of the women kissed another character in the film, it briefly became a major flashpoint over the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content in children’s films. The scene was initially cut after conservative critics pounced, but Disney reinstated it after Pixar employees and other LGBTQ+ advocacy groups spoke out against its removal.

The clip in question brought Snoop Dogg, who had gone to the screening to fall asleep, to a breaking point when his grandson pointed it out to him during the movie and asked a difficult question about biology. “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,” he explained on the podcast. “Oh s—, I didn’t come in for this s—. I just came to watch the g—— movie.”

At a loss to explain how two women can have a child together, Snoop Dogg told his grandson to “wait and watch” before going on to outline how upset he was by the movie’s turn. “They just said she had a baby. They are both women. How does she have a baby? S—. The movie ain’t over with,” he continued. “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.”

Snoop Dogg went on to say that the thing that “lost me” the most was the way children are straightforward in their questioning when they encounter such storylines, often putting parents and grandparents on the spot to deal with subjects for which they are unprepared or have no real answers. “It threw me for a loop,” he 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 Comments, AFL Grand Final Engagement

Progressive viewers on social media have expressed outrage at Snoop Dogg’s comments, with many of them drawing attention to the fact that he is on the lineup for a performance at the Australian Football League’s Grand Final later this year. As reported by PinkNews, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan issued a statement defending his decision to let the rapper keep his slot, which remains confirmed as of this article’s publication. The AFL has been vocal in its support for inclusion and diversity in recent years, and the league has not offered any indication that Snoop Dogg would be taken off the performance schedule.

Lightyear had already been through a similar controversy when the film premiered back in June 2022, when conservatives first objected to the inclusion of a same-sex kiss in the film. Disney reacted by pulling the moment from the film in light of the complaint, but changed course after Pixar employees and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups publicly decried its removal.

Chris Evans, who voices Buzz Lightyear in the film, spoke out at the time in favor of LGBTQ+ representation during an interview with Reuters Television. “The real truth is those people are idiots,” Evans said of critics who were angry about the LGBTQ+ kiss. “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 itself is an attempt to tell the story of the “real” Buzz Lightyear, a sci-fi action hero who, in the fictional universe of Toy Story, inspired the creation of the toy Buzz Lightyear. Despite strong marketing efforts and being based on one of Pixar’s most famous properties, the film received mixed reviews and failed to meet expectations at the box office, making only $226.6 million against a forecast of more than $600 million.

Snoop Dogg’s comments have reignited the debate over LGBTQ+ inclusion in children’s media and how it can intersect with difficult real-world subjects for young children. Supporters of increased LGBTQ+ inclusion in children’s films point out that it normalizes inclusion and reflects the reality of modern family life. However, conservative critics often agree with Snoop Dogg that such scenes are likely to elicit awkward questions from young viewers that their parents or grandparents are unprepared to answer, thereby making such family films even more controversial.

As the AFL Grand Final performance is still months away, Snoop Dogg does not appear to be backing down or preparing to retract his comments. It remains to be seen if this incident will damage the rapper’s international reputation or bring more backlash to his image, but it is clear that his podcast comments have thrown him squarely in the middle of a continuing cultural war over how family entertainment should depict the diversity of modern family life.