Snoop Dogg is facing backlash once again after his latest comments targeting the inclusion of LGBTQ+ relationships in children’s films. The hip-hop icon focused on Pixar’s new movie Lightyear, a spinoff of the beloved Toy Story series. The rapper took to Sarah Fontenot’s It’s Giving podcast last week to share a story about how he and his grandson visited a screening of the animated film, only to find the lyrics to “Do the Whip and Nae Nae” interrupting his slumber.

According to Snoop, Lightyear featured a scene where two women appear in a same-sex relationship, kissing briefly on screen. Snoop admitted to growing confused during the film because his grandson interrupted him with a pointed question about how two women could give birth to a child. “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 said on the podcast. “Oh s—, I didn’t come in for this s—. I just came to watch the g—— movie.”

The rapper said that he didn’t know how to explain his grandson’s question on the spot, leaving him to simply tell the child to continue watching the film. “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 told Fontenot that it wasn’t the on-screen kiss that truly bothered him, but rather the fact that children would naturally ask such questions, putting parents and grandparents in awkward positions. “It threw me for a loop,” Snoop 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.”

Snoop Dogg Defends Decision to Play at AFL Grand Final

The rapper’s remarks were heavily criticized online, coming days before his scheduled performance at the Australian Football League’s 2023 Grand Final. PinkNews reported that AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan defended his organization’s decision to have Snoop Dogg perform on the stage at the 2023 AFL Grand Final in October. The AFL has previously highlighted support for inclusion and diversity over the past few years, but the company has yet to make any public statements on whether Snoop Dogg’s set is under review.

Snoop Dogg is far from the first person to speak out about Lightyear. The film was met with disapproval from conservatives when it premiered in June 2022. Right-wing media figures and politicians believed that it was inappropriate to include the same-sex kiss in a movie targeted at children. The issue soon escalated to such a level that Disney briefly removed the scene from the film altogether before reinstating it after Pixar employees and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups raised concerns.

Lightyear saw Chris Evans reprise his role as Buzz Lightyear, the iconic science-fiction character and theme park staple of Disney/Pixar’s world-famous Toy Story franchise. Evans defended the inclusion of the lesbian scene during a Reuters Television interview, going on the offensive against the film’s detractors. “The real truth is those people are idiots,” Evans said. “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 served as a standalone attempt to capitalize on the Toy Story brand by zooming in on the “real” Buzz Lightyear, the space-age intergalactic hero who inspired the kid-friendly Buzz Lightyear doll from the Pixar animated series. Despite prominent marketing and a creative license to feature fan-favorite character actors from the Toy Story films, the original story from directors Angus MacLane and Kate McKinnon failed to impress critics and earned a tepid $226 million at the worldwide box office, far short of its anticipated performance.

Snoop Dogg’s comments are likely to renew criticism of how quickly children’s films have pivoted to include LGBTQ+ characters and themes. For some people, scenes like the one Snoop Dogg’s grandson saw are designed to be normalizing and reflect a modern world that contains many different types of families. For others, critics, and Snoop included, such scenes are controversial, particularly when placed alongside children’s media and games, because of the frank questions they may lead young viewers to ask their parents and guardians.