Come Get Your Man: Snoop Dogg Doesn’t Deserve Celebration for an Apology

But Jada Pinkett Smith’s ‘Red Table Talk’ was all too willing to give it

Michael Arceneaux
LEVEL
Published in
5 min readFeb 27, 2020

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Snoop Dogg, Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, and Gammy in conversation during an episode of Red Table Talk.
Photo: Red Table Talk/Facebook

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WWhen Jada Pinkett Smith first previewed yesterday’s episode of her popular Facebook Watch series, Red Table Talk, she billed it as “an in-depth and insightful conversation about the culture of disrespect between Black men and Black women.” The episode’s guest is Snoop Dogg, who recently faced scrutiny (to put it kindly) over his comments aimed at CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King. Unfortunately, if one had any hope for the episode to live up to its initial promise, such faith was decimated within minutes.

As a fan of Snoop, I understand that he’s charming, and I enjoy his overall demeanor — which at this point is Uncle Charlie Wilson If He Could Crip Walk — but considering the severity of the situation, why is everyone so jovial? Is Snoop really on set shuffling around like the late Sherman Hemsley?

Do we not remember what he did?

After CBS published a short clip of King asking retired WNBA athlete Lisa Leslie about Kobe Bryant’s 2003 rape case only days after his death, King became the target of a heated social media discussion. Many took umbrage with her line of questioning, many didn’t, but it was Snoop’s comments that gained national attention — which was inevitable, given his stature and the deeply venomous nature of his words.

As I recall it, Snoop referred to King as a “dog-haired bitch” and told her to “back off, before we come get you.”

That’s why I didn’t quite understand why Pinkett Smith mentioned that King was invited to the Red Table Talk taping to take part in the conversation but declined. Of course she declined. Why does she need to be there? Gayle King doesn’t need to heal; the one who called her a “dog-haired bitch” and threatened her does.

I’ve praised ‘Red Table Talk’ before. It can be entertaining, and even healing, which is its stated point. But “an in-depth and insightful conversation…

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Michael Arceneaux
LEVEL

New York Times bestselling author of “I Can’t Date Jesus” and “I Don’t Want To Die Poor.”