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Stephen A. Smith doesn’t understand the backlash rappers like Snoop Dogg, Nelly and Soulja Boy are receiving for performing at events around Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.
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During a recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube, the media personality started his rant about the vitriol they’ve been receiving online by asking some questions. “What if this person voted for him because they’re broke and they think he can put some more money in their pocket?” he asked. “What if this person voted for him because they’re in a crime-ridden neighborhood and they feel leftists aren’t having the streets patrolled well enough? What if they wanna call 911, but they live in an environment that people were supporting defunding the police? … What if the job market mattered to them?”
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He then continued by asking whether Soulja Boy had a right to make a living. “Soulja Boy ain’t got no right to make some money?” he asked. “Everybody’s quick to say, ‘If it was me, there’s a different way to make money.’ You sure about that? I saw Soulja Boy pull out some cash. I couldn’t count, but it looked like at least six figures. What it takes most people to make in a year, the brother made in one night.”
Smith then set his sights on Snoop and pointed out that the Long Beach rapper actually performed at the Crypto Ball — one of the events surrounding the inauguration — and that he was there for Trump’s Crypto and A.I. czar David Sacks and not the new president, who reportedly didn’t attend the event but was the guest of honor. “David Sacks is someone who Snoop has had a relationship with for decades,” Smith revealed. “David Sacks is that cat when nobody else put their hand out offering dollars to Snoop’s football league and beyond, that brother does it.”
Smith added: “Snoop Dogg’s worth over $100 million. He’s got a youth football league — this brother’s sending cats to college, this brother’s sending cats to the NFL. We just gonna ignore that cause he performed at the inauguration?”
When it came to Nelly, Stephen A. claimed the St. Louis rapper isn’t into politics and will perform for the right price.
“Nelly is not a political person, he doesn’t get involved in the campaigns,” he said. “Nelly does perform for people who will pay the right fee and believes in respecting the office because of the power that comes with it. That’s his position. Like it or not, you gotta respect it.”
However, Nelly recently said he didn’t agree to perform for money; he agreed because he saw it as an honor and likened it to the military who have to serve the country no matter who’s in office. “I’m not doing this for money,” he said on Willie D Live. “I’m doing this ’cause it’s an honor. I respect the office. It don’t matter who’s in office. The same way that our men and women, our brother and sisters who protect this country have to go to war and have to put their life on the line for whoever in office. If they can put their life on the line for whoever’s in office, I can perform for whoever’s in office.”
Stephen A. Smith goes off on the people criticizing Snoop Dogg, Nelly, and Soulja Boy for performing at President Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration and calls out those in our community who turned against Ice Cube.(🎥 Stephen A. Smith/YouTube) pic.twitter.com/AutqkxBTjq— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) January 21, 2025
You can watch the full episode below.
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Lambert’s MuttNation Foundation has teamed with guitar dealer Norm Harris of Norman’s Rare Guitars to help animal shelters in the Los Angeles area. Harris and a close friend have each donated a Gibson R9 1959 Les Paul Reissue Custom Shop Murphy Lab guitar to an online auction to benefit animals.
The auction is now ongoing through Saturday, Jan. 25, at 5 p.m. CT, with 100 percent of the funds raised from the auction going to benefit Los Angeles-area animal shelters.
“The fires have displaced so many people and animals, and I wanted to do something that would immediately help the overcrowded animal shelters,” Harris said in a statement. “When my friend said he wanted to buy one of these guitars — but that he didn’t want the guitar — he wanted to auction it and have the funds go support animals, I jumped right in and said I’d donate one, too. These are two incredibly special guitars, each with a slightly different finish that I hand-selected. The guitars have a value of over $8,000 each, but this is for charity, so I hope people will be generous.”
“Although I haven’t met Norm, I’ve heard about him and his guitar store for years and the next time I’m in L.A., it will be my first stop,” Lambert said in a statement. “There’s nothing better than finding another like-minded music and mutt-loving person and I’m really honored that he chose to partner with MuttNation.”
Harris, known for his deep and expansive knowledge of guitars, was spotlighted in the Netflix documentary Norman’s Rare Guitars, and has authored two books about vintage guitars. Norman’s Rare Guitars was established in 1975 and became a mainstay in the Los Angeles community, drawing artists and musicians to the store to shop for vintage instruments and accessories.
The MuttNation Foundation was founded by Lambert and her mother Bev in 2009 and has since raised over $10 million to support its mission to promote the adoption of shelter pets, advance spay and neuter and education the public regarding the benefits of these actions.
Learn more about the guitars going up for auction to help Los Angeles animal shelters below:
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