Snoop Dogg has cancelled his upcoming Hollywood Bowl shows in Los Angeles due to the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes.
The two shows planned at the prestigious amphitheatre were to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Long Beach rapper’s debut 1993 album ‘Doggystyle’. The pioneering record was his first Number One album and the fastest-selling hip-hop album ever at the time.
Now, Snoop Dogg – real name Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr – has posted a statement on Instagram telling fans: “We regret to inform you that due to the ongoing strike and the uncertainty of when this will be over, we need to cancel the Hollywood Bowl show.
“We continue to stand in solidarity with all of our brothers and sisters in the WGA and SAG/AFTRA during this difficult time and remain hopeful that the AMPTP will come back to the negotiating table with a REAL proposal and we can all get back to work.”
As confirmed on the Hollywood Bowl website, customers who purchased tickets will automatically receive refunds credited to their original payment method.
The concerts, produced by Dr Dre, were supposed to happen in late June but were postponed to late October to “stand in solidarity with the writers”.
The WGA and SAG/AFTRA unions are fighting for better wages, increased streaming residuals and safeguards against the use of AI technology in the streaming era. The rapper himself has spoken out on artificial intelligence, telling his followers that music created by AI has “got out of hand“.
In May this year, Snoop compared writers’ fight for residuals to artists’ frustrations with music streaming platforms.
Two Snoop Dogg snippets from Milken today. I was sitting up front, and the whole thing was bananas.
First, Snoop Dogg on streaming media pricing: "If you can get a billion streams, why can't you get a million dollars? Who the f**k run the streaming industry? Are you in here?" pic.twitter.com/e6czGzDS84
— Paul Kedrosky (@pkedrosky) May 4, 2023
“I don’t understand how the fuck you get paid off of that shit. Somebody explain to me how you can get a billion streams and not get a million dollars?… That’s the main gripe with a lot of us artists is that we do major numbers… but it don’t add up to the money. Like, where the fuck is the money?”
Mark Ruffalo spoke up in support of the writers and actors on the picket line. “How about we all jump into indies now?” he suggested. “Then we just do what we always do – create great content and they can buy it, or we take it out ourselves and we share in those sales.”
Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan has also confirmed that he will “absolutely” not work on any more films until the issues are resolved for writers and actors. This came after Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt walked out of the London premiere of Nolan’s Oppenheimer as the Hollywood actors’ strike was called.
The strike affects multiple hit shows and movies including Abbott Elementary, Hacks, Blade, and Stranger Things.
On August 11, Dogg, Run-DMC, Lil Wayne and more will perform at New York’s Yankee Stadium for Hip Hop 50 Live, a one-off celebratory concert in honour of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.
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