Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg, also known as Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. and Snoop Doggy Dogg, (born October 20, 1971), is an American rapper, record producer and actor. Snoop is best known as an MC in the West Coast hip hop scene.

Snoop Dogg filmed a celebrity cameo scene for It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. Snoop Dogg's a brief scene, where he interacted with Kermit and the Electric Mayhem backstage at in the Muppet Theater, was cut from the final cut of the 2002 telefilm.

Although the company had described him as a "talented artist" and Snoop was among the many "big name" celebrities that participated in the project, the Jim Henson Company and NBC cut Snoop Dogg's scene. According to a press release published on Henson.com, "As commonly occurs during this stage of production, we have had to cut several scenes originally planned for the movie which did not advance its storyline. Unfortunately, one of the scenes we have had to cut was a brief appearance by the talented artist Snoop Dogg. We are very proud of this TV movie and are confident that it will be a highlight of the holiday season".

However according to many reports, the motives for cutting Snoop's scene wasn't just due to time constraints. Reporters stated that producers had extra incentive to cut the Snoop footage when protest arose over mixing a hardened hip-hop artist with classic "children's" characters.

Conservative radio show host Larry Elder, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, and Project Islamic Hope's Najee Ali led a protest threatening an NBC boycott over the inclusion of Snoop Dogg in the "family film".

Najee Ali argued that the rapper was unfit for family television fare stating: "I grew up watching the Muppets. They are very precious to me - those memories of watching [them] as a child, Now I have children and want them to feel that way, too... There are plenty of other hip-hop artists that they could have chosen rather this guy. He was the very worst choice."

Although Snoop Dogg's scene was allegedly cut due to "production reasons" and for "not advancing the storyline", Snoop Dogg's scene was not included on the DVD's "Delete Scene" reel.