Snoop Dogg found himself in the center of another culture war after blasting the presence of LGBTQ+ content in children’s films on Sarah Fontenot’s It’s Giving podcast last week. In particular, the rapper and hip-hop icon seemed to aim for Pixar’s newest movie, Lightyear, after recounting the experience of bringing his grandson to see the movie without warning and being caught off guard by the appearance of a same-sex couple.

The scene in question is a brief exchange and kiss between two women, and it was initially removed from the animated film as part of the studio’s original release. Disney was pressured internally, however, to reinstate the LGBTQ+ moment after criticism from Pixar employees and various advocacy groups. The company announced in June 2022 that it would restore the content before the film’s official debut.

“The movie that I took my grandson to, I saw the g—— movie,” the rapper began, “I didn’t come in for this s—, but I didn’t have an answer ready.” He continued: “Why my grandson in the middle of the movie like, ‘Papa Snoop, how she have a baby with a woman? She a woman,’” he recounted on the podcast. “Oh s—, I didn’t come in for this s—. I just came to watch the g—— movie.”

He continued, “I just told him to chill. We’ll get to that. Chill, chill. Watch the movie.” “They just said she had a baby. They are both women,” Snoop said. “How does she have a baby? S—. The movie ain’t over with. You just chill. 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.”

The artist said that his biggest issue was children coming in and asking questions about such content. “The thing that was the most concerning to me is, we are the people that they come to when they ask questions, and you throwing me in the middle of this s— that I don’t have an answer to,” he explained.

“You’ve got these kids that we’ve got to show 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.”

Lightyear had previously been embroiled in a similar culture war. It features a same-sex kiss in the narrative after one of its leading characters reveals to the protagonist, Buzz Lightyear, that she is pregnant with another woman. At the time, the film was championed by Pixar employees and LGBTQ+ rights groups as inclusionary, but a significant conservative backlash forced Disney to remove the content until employees could push back.

Chris Evans, the actor who voices the Buzz Lightyear character in the film, was asked about the criticism at the time during a Reuters Television interview and had this to say. “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 attempted to franchise Pixar’s Toy Story brand by offering a narrative about the “real” Buzz Lightyear. In the canonical world of Toy Story, Buzz is the space-age action science-fiction hero and inspiration for the children’s toy of the same name. Despite its links to one of the most popular Pixar franchises, Lightyear earned just over $226 million at the global box office against significant pre-release hype and was only mildly positive among critics.

PinkNews reported that backlash to Snoop Dogg’s comments was growing online, and the rapper is set to perform at the Australian Football League’s Grand Final later this year. Despite conservative criticisms of the rapper’s involvement due to the comments, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan defended Snoop Dogg in a meeting with the media, claiming there was no change to the agreement.

The AFL has championed inclusion and diversity in recent years, but neither it nor Disney has shown any sign that it would reverse its decision to bring Snoop Dogg on as an artist for the event. Snoop shows no signs of apologizing or walking back the comments, and with the AFL Grand Final still to take place, it remains unclear how his international reputation might be affected.