Months after Snoop Dogg raised hackles by expressing frustration with a same-sex couple who had a baby in the Pixar film "Lightyear," the rapper has launched an effort to teach kids about the many different forms a family can take.
On Oct.
13, Snoop released the song "Love is Love" on his animated children’s YouTube series "Doggyland." The track, about celebrating "families of all shapes and sizes," features a cameo from "The Voice" contestant Jeremy Beloate, who was part of Snoop's team in 2024.
The 53-year-old Long Beach, California-born rapper then partnered with LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD to release a conversation with Beloate on Oct.
16, coinciding with the LGBTQ youth anti-bullying initiative #SpiritDay.
Speaking with Out Magazine, Beloate revealed that he experienced bullying while growing up. We have to show that at this age? “I found my community in that and decided after high school, I really wanted to do this.”
Beloate is using his time on The Voice to further his career and community.
I don't have the answer."
Snoop Dogg describes elementary school bullying
Earlier in the conversation, Snoop related to Beloate after the singer shared, "I got bullied at school because I was a boy who sang."
"Most guys like me who come from gang-related neighborhoods, we've been bullied, too," he told his former mentee, going on to tell a story about a boy in the neighborhood who stomped on some goldfish he'd won as a prize in elementary school.
"There's things that we deal with, and I know you deal with yours.
Some of the contestants are taking to social media to urge viewers to vote for them in the finale, and others are sharing more about themselves and their stories. “I had this ego death moment where some of them got eliminated and I cried, I was like, ‘Thank you for making me feel like a brother, like a normal this person’. “I have felt so accepted, it’s been beautiful,” he said.
They were like, ‘What do you mean?’ [And I said]: ‘You don’t get it and you never will. ...
When you’re bullied or made to feel othered or whatever, you [put] walls up to protect yourself,” he said. And I felt like this music is a beautiful bridge to bringing understanding," he continued. He moved to New York three years ago to pursue a career on Broadway and recently scored the lead role in a new musical by American Idol alum Todrick Hall.
And I think that being able to have parents of all walks of life, whether it's two fathers, two mothers, whatever it is, love is the key," Snoop told Beloate.
"And I think these kids are being loved by these great parents that are showing them an example of what family is.
‘The Voice’ Finalist Jeremy Beloate Opens up About Past Struggles: “I Grew up Being Bullied by Country Guys”
The Voiceis winding down this week, with the finale airing on December 10.
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Jeremy Beloate went on to explain that while some of the people on The Voice didn’t fully understand why he felt so strongly about their time together, he still appreciated them. “I think the show exists, in a way, to try [to] make everybody visible and get to share who they are, and embraces that.
So I want to give a shoutout to all of the parents out there for doing such a great job with these kids."
Snoop's latest comments follow an appearance on the Aug. 20 episode of the "It's Giving" podcast, in which he said he was "scared to go to the movies now" after his grandson asked how two women had a baby together in 2022's "Lightyear."
The animated film "threw me for a loop," he said, adding, "These are kids.