Snoop Dogg calls for 'Roots' remake boycott
Snoop Dogg called for a boycott of the History Channel's "Roots" remake in an Instagram post on Monday, May 30, 2016. Here, he arrives at the premiere of "Coach Snoop" at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres in Los Angeles on May 16, 2016. Credit: AP/ Rich Fury
Rapper, actor and reality-TV star Snoop Dogg has laced into the miniseries “Roots” and other TV productions depicting American slavery, issuing a profanity-filled video on Instagram.
“No disrespect, but I can’t watch no [expletive] mo’ black movies where [African-Americans are] gettin’ dogged out,” Snoop stated in what appeared to be selfie shot at home. “ ‘12 Years a Slave,’ ‘Roots,’ ‘Underground’ — I can’t watch none of that.” He continued: “I’m sick of this. . . . How the [expletive] they gonna put ‘Roots’ on on Memorial Day?” he said of History channel’s four-night remake of the Emmy-sweeping 1977 original. The new miniseries began Monday and concludes June 2.
“They gonna just keep beating that . . . into our heads, of how they did us, huh?” Snoop, born Calvin Broadus, went on. “I mean, I don’t understand America. They just want to just keep showing abuse that we took hundreds and hundreds of years ago. But guess what: We taking the same abuse. Think about that part. When y’all going to make a . . . series about the success that black folks is having? The only success we have is ‘Roots’ and ‘12 Years a Slave’ and [expletive] like that, huh? . . . I ain’t watching that. . . . Let’s create our own [programming] based on today, how we live and how we inspire people today.”
A History channel spokeswoman did not return a Newsday request for comment.
So far this year, movies centering on African-American characters and themes have included the biographies “Race,” about athlete Jesse Owens, and Don Cheadle as jazz legend Miles Davis in “Miles Ahead.” Fiction features include “Barbershop: The Next Cut.” On television, the drama series “Empire,” about a black-owned music label, and “Black-ish,” a comedy about an upscale black family, are hits.
Monday’s first episode of “Roots,” which aired on History, A&E, Lifetime and LMN, drew 5.3 million viewers, according to a History channel press release.
LeVar Burton, who starred in the original and is a co-executive producer of the remake, said in a statement in February, “Nearly 40 years ago I had the privilege to be a part of an epic television event that started an important conversation in America. I am incredibly proud to be a part of this new retelling and start the dialogue again, at a time when it is needed more than ever.”
