Hip-hop star Snoop Dogg has found himself at the center of a new cultural firestorm after coming out against LGBTQ+ representation in children’s films in a podcast interview last week. Dogg name-checked Pixar’s Lightyear in the conversation, describing how he and his grandson watched the movie together but were not prepared for it to include a same-sex couple.

Lightyear is an animated spinoff of the Toy Story universe that became embroiled in controversy over a character in the film depicted in a same-sex relationship. The character, voiced by actress Kelly Marie Tran, was shown kissing another female character in a brief sequence. While Disney at first acquiesced to pressure and removed the moment from the film, it was ultimately reinstated following internal criticism and demands for more LGBTQ+ representation.

The entire episode unfolded in Snoop Dogg’s presence and his grandson’s during a screening. The rapper described how, at one point, his grandson asked him in the middle of the film: “Papa Snoop, how does she have a baby with a woman? Is she a woman?”

“I’m like, why my grandson in the middle of the movie like, ‘Papa Snoop, how she has a baby with a woman? She is a woman,” the rapper told the podcast host. “Oh s—, I didn’t come in for this s—. I just came to watch the g—— movie.”

The rapper went on to say that he could not come up with an immediate answer to the question and instead told his grandson to watch the rest of the movie and find out. “They just said, and she had a baby,” he continued. “They are both women. How does she have a baby? S—. The movie ain’t over with. 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 his response, Snoop said that while the detail itself was not what confused him, it was the directness of the question that surprised him, as it left him unprepared. The rapper is, of course, correct that the question from his grandson was direct, but he also glosses over the obvious implication: that children will have these questions after being exposed to these storylines in movies. That forces a parent or a grandparent into conversations for which they might not be prepared.

“They just throw that s— in your face and it’s like, whoa,” Snoop concluded. “That’s why I took you to the movie so you can sleep. It threw me for a loop. It threw me. It’s these kids that we have 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.”

Reaction Online and Culture Wars Grow Bigger

The comments predictably struck a nerve online among progressive audiences that were already upset by Snoop Dogg’s booking as a performer for the Australian Football League’s Grand Final later this year. PinkNews reported that AFL boss Gillon McLachlan had defended the booking and that Snoop’s name would not be dropped from the list of performers in response to the backlash. The organization has, in recent years, taken part in numerous inclusion and diversity campaigns, but there is currently no indication that it will back away from the rapper’s booking.

Lightyear has faced criticism for its depiction of LGBTQ+ characters long before Snoop Dogg raised it on a podcast. After the movie debuted in June of last year, conservatives pushed back against the same-sex kiss featured in the film, declaring that it was not age-appropriate. The moment was reportedly cut from the movie at one point, but was later reinstated after outcry from Pixar employees and LGBTQ+ advocates.

Lead actor Chris Evans, who voices Buzz Lightyear, came out in support of the character at the time, suggesting that critics would eventually fade away. “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 was marketed as a true story of the “real” Buzz Lightyear, the inspiration for the actual Toy Story Buzz Lightyear toy and film character. For much of the movie, Lightyear takes place in the same universe as the regular Toy Story movies, but is not animated in the traditional Pixar style, instead using live-action visuals and more CG. Reviews were middling, if not outright negative, and the film took in less than a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide, falling far short of what was projected.