Snoop Dogg cancels Hollywood Bowl shows in solidarity with striking actors, writers
Snoop Dogg’s October shows at the Hollywood Bowl, marking the 30th anniversary of his breakthrough album “Doggystyle,” have been canceled.
Snoop was set to perform June 26 and 27 in shows described by the Hollywood Bowl as Snoop bringing together “some of his best friends — plus conductor Derrick Hodge and the ReCollective Orchestra — to re-create ‘Gin and Juice,’ ‘What’s My Name,’ ‘Lodi Dodi,’ and more.” The highly anticipated shows were to be produced by Dr. Dre, who produced “Doggystyle.”
But the rapper announced in June that he and Dre would postpone the concerts in support of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.
“Hollywood Bowl, June 26-27, we gotta move that date,” Snoop said on Instagram. “Me and Dr. Dre, we stand in solidarity with the writers, so what we’re gonna do, we’re gonna push it back to October 20th and 21st.”
The postponed Hollywood Bowl engagement was officially canceled Tuesday, with the rapper citing the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes.
“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,” Snoop Dogg wrote in a statement posted online. “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.’’
What to know about the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, the first since the 100-day walkout of 2007-08.
According to the Hollywood Bowl’s website, people who purchased tickets will automatically receive refunds, credited to the original payment method. The refunds are expected to be processed within the next week.
Snoop and Dre previously supported the striking writers by sending a food truck to picketers outside Paramount Studios in June.
The WGA has been on strike since May 2. The guild has argued that writers’ median pay has significantly decreased amid the shift to streaming and that the growth of “mini-rooms,” which bring on fewer writers for a shorter time frame, have further hampered their ability to make a living.
On July 13, after weeks of talks between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached an impasse, Hollywood’s actors joined writers on picket lines for the first simultaneous walkout in 63 years.
SAG-AFTRA has approved a deal from the studios to end its historic strike. The actors were on strike for more than 100 days.
In May, speaking at a conference, Snoop compared the writers’ plight to that of musical artists and urged musicians to unify and push for a bigger cut of the streaming revenue generated by the likes of Spotify and Apple Music.
“Streaming gotta get their s— together,” he said. “Can somebody explain to me how you can get a billion streams, and not get a billion dollars?”
Times staff writer Kenan Draughorne contributed to this report.
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