{"id":86341,"date":"2025-08-22T01:37:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T01:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/86341\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T01:37:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T01:37:13","slug":"afl-backs-snoop-dogg-grand-final-performance-amid-homophobia-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/86341\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL Backs Snoop Dogg Grand Final Performance Amid Homophobia Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/themusic.com.au\/artist\/swytpKWqq6g\/snoop-dogg\" class=\"float-right mb-3 ml-3 w-36 text-center font-bold\" style=\"\" data-sveltekit-noscroll=\"off\" data-sveltekit-preload-data=\"hover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\"> <img class=\"aspect-artist w-36 rounded-full\" style=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/snoop-dogg-h-0921.250x250.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"More Snoop Dogg\"\/> More Snoop Dogg<\/a>    <\/p>\n<p>On Thursday (21 August), the AFL handed Adelaide Crows player Izak Rankine a four-week suspension for using a homophobic slur on the field against a Collingwood Magpies player last Saturday (16 August).<\/p>\n<p>AFL CEO Andrew Dillon backed the call to have Snoop Dogg perform at this year\u2019s Grand Final, despite media attention being drawn to the rapper\u2019s past misogynistic and homophobic lyrics, as the AFL works to crack down on homophobia within the league.<\/p>\n<p>Following the decision to suspend Rankine for four weeks, Dillon said that Snoop Dogg\u2019s Grand Final Day performance would be \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afl.com.au\/news\/1397495\/afl-ceo-andrew-dillon-defends-snoop-dogg-grand-final-call-after-adelaide-crows-player-izak-rankine-ban-for-use-of-homophobic-slur\">family-friendly<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe cannot vouch for every lyric in every song ever written or performed by any artist who has appeared on our stage \u2014 Australian or international,\u201d Dillon said yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I can say is that our pre-match entertainment on AFL Grand Final day will be family-friendly and consistent with the audience at the MCG and those watching the broadcast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"max-w-xs pt-2 lg:max-w-none lg:text-xl\">Don&#8217;t miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is also important to remember that we engaged Snoop Dogg in 2025 as the person he is today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dillon added, \u201cHe has spoken publicly about his past, he has changed, and today he is a grandfather, philanthropist, he helps rehabilitate youth and is a global entertainer who has performed at both the Super Bowl and the Olympic Closing Ceremony to audiences of more than 100 million people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn those environments, his performance was appropriate and well-received, and his performance this year at our Grand Final will be fitting for the best sporting event in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rankine isn\u2019t the only AFL player to receive a suspension for using a homophobic slur on the field. As the organisation notes, Rankine is the sixth player in the past two seasons to be suspended for the use of a homophobic slur.<\/p>\n<p>Upon the announcement that he\u2019d be headlining this year\u2019s AFL Grand Final performance, Snoop Dogg said, \u201cIt\u2019s an absolute honour to be hitting the stage at the AFL Grand Final \u2014 it\u2019s one of the biggest events on the Aussie calendar. Can\u2019t wait to bring the energy and celebrate with the fans. Let\u2019s make it unforgettable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dillon described Snoop Dogg as a \u201cpioneer, performer, and true entertainer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More Snoop Dogg On Thursday (21 August), the AFL handed Adelaide Crows player Izak Rankine a four-week suspension&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-86341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}