Country music singer John Rich has criticized Snoop Dogg after the rapper performed at an event celebrating President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration over the weekend.
Snoop Dogg, whose given name is Calvin Broadus Jr., was a featured performer at the first-ever "Crypto Ball" on Friday night. The event, which was hosted by incoming White House AI and "Crypto Czar" David Sacks, took place at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C.
His appearance at the event marked a turnaround for the hip-hop star, who criticized Black artists who would perform for Trump during his first inaugural celebrations in January 2017. In March 2017, Snoop Dogg released a music video showing a mock assassination of a Trump-inspired clown called Ronald Klump.
Condemning the video at the time, Trump wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President [Barack] Obama? Jail time!"
Rich, who is known to be an avowed Trump supporter, took to X on Sunday to condemn Snoop Dogg as he weighed in on rapper Nelly defending his own decision to perform at one of three official balls following Monday's inauguration.
During a recent podcast appearance, Nelly said that he was not performing "for money," adding that he was "doing this cause it's an honor. I respect the office."
"Good for Nelly," Rich wrote on the social media platform in response. "I've known him for a very long time, and he shoots straight. Unlike Snoop, Nelly didn't do a music video depicting a mock assassination on DJT. NELLY > snoop."
Newsweek has contacted representatives of Snoop Dogg via email for comment.
Good for Nelly. I've known him for a very long time, and he shoots straight. Unlike Snoop, Nelly didn't do a music video depicting a mock assassination on DJT.
NELLY > snoop https://t.co/1FLOsPoqsm
Despite his past criticism, Snoop Dogg's stance on Trump has changed over the years. In an interview with The Sunday Times published in January 2024, the star said that Trump "ain't done nothing wrong to me. He has done only great things for me. He pardoned Michael Harris. So I have nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump."
Harris, who co-founded the Death Row record label to which Snoop Dogg was first signed, had been serving time for attempted murder and cocaine trafficking at Lompoc Federal Correctional Institution when he received clemency on Trump's last day in office. This came after Snoop worked with activist Alice Johnson and producer Weldon Angelos to push for Harris' release.
Meanwhile, Nelly recently defended his decision to perform at Monday's Inaugural Liberty Ball during an appearance on the Willie D Live podcast.
"I'm not doing this for money, I'm doing this because it's an honor," he said. "I respect the office. It doesn't matter who is in office. The same way that our men and women, our brothers and sisters who protect this country, have to go to war and have to put their life on the line for whoever in office. So if they can put their life on the line for whoever in office, I can damn sure perform for whoever is in office."
Nelly, whose given name is Cornell Haynes Jr., also insisted that he's "not political. I'm not out here trying to tell anyone who they should vote for. This is not a campaign trail."
"I'm clueless on a lot of things when it gets down to it," he added, per The Independent. "So what I tend to say is, yo, do your homework and make your own decisions about it."
"But what I will say about it is that I respect the office," he said. "This isn't politics, the politics for me is over, he won. He's the president, he's the commander-in-chief. What I would like to say is that this is the best country in the world."
Nelly challenged detractors to "show me where [Trump] is a white supremacist."
The "Hot In Herre" hitmaker's stance was decidedly different in 2017, when he told Page Six: "You know the thing about Donald Trump is that I liked Donald Trump, I did, I just don't like Donald Trump as my president. Dude is a trip.
"Pre-presidency, I was cool with the Donald. Loved his hotels. I'm more or less mad at him because I can't stay at his hotel now. You done f***** that up. And I've been staying there for 15 years, and now you pull this. Get it together, homie."
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