A Reminder That Snoop Dogg Is a Sellout

Snoop Dogg has several iconic and hateful songs that many people know and love, and his upcoming Verzuz battle against DMX will induce nostalgia in those moved by that sort of thing.

He is also a sellout who was still chummy enough with Donald Trump in 2011 to appear on a Comedy Central roast of him. This is the same time that Trump began to appear on talk shows to validate and amplify the deeply racist birther campaign against Barack Obama—an effort that made him a relevant political figure and effectively launched his 2016 presidential campaign.

Maybe, you might say, Snoop just wasn’t aware yet of Trump’s racism and specific antipathy towards President Obama.

Yeah, about that.

Trump’s racism is used, by Snoop—and whoever wrote this joke—as a punchline. While the crowd “ooohs” at Snoop’s clever burn, the camera pans to Ivanka Trump, who’s also deeply amused by her dad’s racism being called out by Snoop Dogg—her dad’s friend.

Snoop, of course, is the same man who, earlier this year, called Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey sellouts and worse. This was not the pot calling the kettle black. It’s the pot, alone in a room, gripping a hand-held mirror.

That Snoop is a sellout—and also a multimillionaire who became rich and famous from decades worth of art disparaging black women—is not new news. It’s not even particularly hard to find. It’s as essential to his persona as weed is, and his current status as some sort of Uncle Snoop community elder will never not be weird and gross. But the Verzuz should be fun, and I hope everyone watching it has a good time.