Rapper Snoop Dogg has added fuel to a firestorm of controversy over LGBTQ+ representation in children’s films by bashing Pixar’s 2022 animated blockbuster Lightyear. In an interview last week on the It’s Giving podcast with Sarah Fontenot, the hip-hop legend said that he brought his grandson to the theater to watch Lightyear only to be stumped by a same-sex relationship depicted in the movie.

Lightyear is a spinoff of the Toy Story series and was widely promoted by Disney. It includes a character in a same-sex relationship who features in a brief scene where she kisses another woman. The company briefly removed the moment amid pressure from right-wing activists and restored it after an internal backlash, also from those advocating for LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Snoop Dogg said that he felt embarrassed while at the movies as his grandson interrupted the film to ask him how two women can make a baby. “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,” Snoop said on the podcast. “Oh s—, I didn’t come in for this s—. I just came to watch the g—— movie.”

He said that he could not provide an answer to his grandson and asked him to watch more of 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.”

In Snoop’s view, what was most challenging about the scene was not being able to answer his grandson and wondering how he would explain it to his daughter. He added that children are frank and will ask hard questions when confronted with such storylines in film. “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.”

Anger and Criticism From Gay Rights Supporters

Conservatives and progressives alike reacted furiously to Snoop’s comments on the podcast, especially because he is scheduled to appear at the Australian Football League’s Grand Final later this year. As PinkNews noted, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan rejected the idea of disinviting Snoop Dogg as a performer at the big game. The AFL has pursued policies of inclusion in recent years and worked closely with the LGBTQ+ community in Australia, but it has not signaled that it might disinvite the rapper.

This was not the first time that Lightyear has been at the heart of a representation controversy. In June 2022, when the film first came out, conservatives pounced on the same-sex kiss as evidence that children’s films are not appropriate for kids. Disney reacted by first taking down the scene, only to restore it after pressure from Pixar staff and LGBTQ+ rights groups.

Chris Evans, the American actor who voices Buzz Lightyear in the film, was one of the celebrities who defended the portrayal at the time. “The real truth is those people are idiots,” Evans told Reuters Television. “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 is not just a side character but an effort by Pixar to create a feature-length film centered on the “real” Buzz Lightyear, the brave and futuristic science-fiction character who — as the Toy Story films show — inspired the Buzz Lightyear toy franchise. Released with a significant marketing effort and a connection to the most popular Pixar franchise ever, Lightyear has been a commercial disappointment, earning about $226 million worldwide, to critics who deemed it just okay.

Snoop Dogg and Cultural Battles Over Gay Representation

Supporters of LGBTQ+ visibility argue that films featuring same-sex parents and other queer themes promote inclusion and normalize a wide variety of family structures. Conservative critics argue that these are adult topics, and it is a mistake to include them in movies targeted at younger viewers who, as Snoop Dogg said, will ask uncomfortable questions.

Lightyear has already seen much of this back-and-forth, and Snoop’s latest podcast interview has reignited a debate that is more extensive than either of them. The rapper has no plans to back down, and with his AFL Grand Final performance still to come this year, there is no sign of an apology or a walkback.

Snoop’s global reputation could suffer, but given the usual profile of his international audiences and the popularity of hip-hop in particular, any effects will be more muted than some might imagine. The rapper is, however, again in the cultural battles over how children’s films and media should portray modern life.