Snoop Dogg recently appeared on the “It’s Giving” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) and spoke about being “scared” to bring his grandchildren to the movies after watching 2022’s “Lightyear,” Pixar‘s “Toy Story” spinoff featuring the voice of Chris Evans. The rapper brought his grandson to watch the animated movie but did not expect to have to field questions about same-sex couples, as the movie features a montage in which two mothers are seen raising their child.
“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 remembered thinking, “Oh shit, I didn’t come in for this shit. I just came to watch the goddamn movie.’” His grandson continued to double down on what he saw: “‘They just said, she and she had a baby — they’re both women. How does she have a baby?’”
“It fucked me up,” Snoop said. “I’m like, scared to go to the movies. Y’all throwing me in the middle of shit 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.”
“Lightyear” not only featured one of Disney and Pixar’s most prominent LGBTQ+ characters, but it also depicted its first same-sex kiss in a movie. As reported by Variety, the moment sparked widespread controversy internally at Pixar after the studio considered cutting the same-sex kiss. Employees and allies at Pixar sent a joint statement to Walt Disney Company leadership claiming that Disney executives had actively censored “overtly gay affection” in its feature films. They did not want “Lightyear” to be the latest example. The studio reinstated the kiss as a result.
“I mean, it’s great,” Chris Evans later told Variety. “As great as it is — and you know, I’ve been asked the question a few times — it’s nice, and it’s wonderful, it makes me happy. It’s tough to not be a little frustrated that it even has to be a topic of discussion. That it is this kind of ‘news.’ The goal is that we can get to a point where it is the norm, and that this doesn’t have to be some uncharted waters, that eventually this is just the way it is. That representation across the board is how we make films. Look, it’s an honor to be a part of something that is taking those steps, but the goal is to look back on this time and just be shocked that it took us this long to get there.”
Listen to Snoop’s full interview on the “It’s Giving” podcast here.
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From Variety US