An Australian politician has called for Snoop Dogg to be removed from the upcoming AFL final, set for Sept. 27 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Sarah Hanson-Young addressed the Australian Senate this week asking for the rapper to be taken off the bill for the match’s pre-game entertainment. The Adelaide politician used her speech to call Snoop a “slur merchant” and asked why the Australian Football League (AFL) would pay millions to acquire international talent “rather than backing Aussie talent.”
“The AFL has decided, rather than putting on an Australian artist, they’re gonna pay $2 million to play at the Grand Final,” she said. She added, “We need investment in Australian and Aussie talent. We need investment in our music industry, and we need to say that if it’s an Aussie game, it’s an Aussie artist playing.”
Hanson-Young also called out the “irony” of Snoop being invited while Adelaide Crows forward Izak Rankine received a four-week suspension for making a homophobic slur on the pitch.
“The irony is not lost on many of us that while Izak Rankine gets dumped, Snoop Dogg gets $2 million to play his misogynistic, homophobic music on our turf,” she noted,
Hanson-Young shared the speech on Instagram, writing in the caption, “Absolutely agree with supporting local talent and artists, but that’s not what the AFL has historically done have they? Robbie Williams (with allegations also), Katy Perry (also controversial), Meatloaf etc etc – was the same energy given to those artists re backing local talent? If so, I apologise but if not, why not? We cannot look at this in a vortex without considering the current conservative/anti immigration/anti black/indigenous climate.”
The senator’s comments come a day after Snoop said he felt he had been put on the spot when his grandson asked questions about the same-sex couple in the film Lightyear. During a recent appearance on the It’s Giving… Podcast, the rapper recounted the experience in a segment from the episode that has since been deleted from the YouTube upload.
“They move on into the space years, and as they move down the line they’re like, ‘Then, she had a baby with a woman,’” Snoop said. “Now, my grandson, in the middle of the movie, is like, ‘Papa Snoop? How she have a baby with a woman? She’s a woman.’ Ah shit, I didn’t come in here for this shit. I just came to watch the goddamn movie.”
He added, “I’m scared to go to the movies now. Y’all throwing me in the middle of shit that I don’t have an answer for.”
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon defended the decision to book Snoop. “It is also important to remember that we engaged Snoop Dogg in 2025 as the person he is today,” Dillon said. “He 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.”
