Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young urges the AFL to rethink its decision to have “slur merchant” Snoop Dogg headline the event

Australian politician Sarah Hanson-Young made a few comments about rapper Snoop Dogg. According to Billboard, during a recent Senate address, Young argued that Dogg must be removed from the Australian Football League grand finale, where the rapper is slated to appear for pre-game entertainment.

As seen in a video posted by Young on her Instagram page, she said:

“Why is it that the AFL is bringing in an international artist, a slur merchant, paying them $2 million rather than backing Aussie talent? The AFL has decided for the grand final, rather than putting on Australian artist. They are gonna pay Snoop Dogg $2 million to play at the Grand Final.”

Sarah Hanson-Young went on:

“The AFL is a cultural institution and cultural institutions like this should be backing the rest of our cultural institutions: our artists, our musicians, our music industry right here at home and of course, the AFL is marred in its own controversy over the last week or so.”

Young mentioned that one of the players, Izak Rankine, was temporarily dismissed for using a homophobic slur. However, she said that even though Rankine was suspended, Snoop Dogg has been hired to play his problematic music at the event.

She believed that there was a need to invest in Australian talent and its music industry, adding:

“And we need to say that if it’s an Aussie game, it’s an Aussie artist playing. I urge the AFL have the guts to rethink this decision. Use last week’s outcry and outrage from the Australian community about homophobia and misogyny and dump Snoop Dogg and put in place an Aussie artist.”

What did Andrew Dillon say about Snoop Dogg in a recent press conference?

While addressing Izak Rankine’s suspension during a press conference a few days back, Andrew Dillon, the CEO of AFL, brought up the pre-game entertainment. He explained that people had been talking about the music choices for the grand final.

He said it wasn’t possible to check every single lyric of every song by the artists who performed. However, he promised that the show before the match would be family-friendly and suitable for both the live audience and those watching on TV. Dillon added:

“It's also important to remember that we have engaged Snoop Dogg in 2025 as the person he is today. He has spoken publicly about his past. He has changed and today he's a grandfather, philanthropist. He helps rehabilitate youth and he's a global entertainer who has performed at both the Super Bowl and the Olympic closing ceremony to audiences of more than 100 million people.”

Andrew Dillon said that Dogg’s performance at the grand final would be a good match for the biggest sporting event in the country.

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In an old interview with Sky News, Snoop Dogg explained that when he first started making music, he used harsh words for women because that’s what he had learned.

However, he said, as he grew older and built love for his wife, mother, grandmother, and daughter, he began to understand women better and started writing about them with more love and respect.

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