Guilty pleasure
By NewsPress Now
Snoop Dogg has exploded on the Olympics’ global stage
PARIS | Snoop Dogg steps out of a sleek black SUV, his entourage in tow, as a Parisian crowd erupts into chants of “Snoop, Snoop, Snoop!” outside the NBC set.
Decked out in a custom-made, Noah Lyles-themed USA sweatsuit, the ultra-smooth entertainer glides past the adoring fans with flashing phone cameras into the Musee de l’Homme. Inside, his longtime friend Martha Stewart greets him with a hug. They chat, clink champagne glasses and then he “crip walks” onto the set to film a Sunday night segment.
OK, the show can start — Snoop has arrived. Literally.
At the Paris Games, grand entrances have become the norm in Snoop’s spectacular Olympic life.
“When the lights are on, that’s when I shine the best,” he told The Associated Press after returning from watching Lyles’ historic victory in the 100-meter sprint and filming a primetime segment with Mike Tirico and Stewart, a surprise guest.
“This opportunity was nothing but a chance for me to show the world what it’s supposed to look like when you put the right person in the right environment,” Snoop said.
Snoop, 52, has become the star of the Paris Games, ascending to new heights with several memorable moments. He’s carried the Olympic torch, captivated audiences as NBC’s prime-time correspondent, swam with Michael Phelps, attended a U.S. women’s soccer game with Megan Rapinoe, danced with Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles, and cheered on Caeleb Dressel alongside the swimmer’s wife and son.
The rap icon is currently in his comfort zone. And sleep? Even that’s having a hard time catching up with the on-the-go multihyphenate entertainer.
“It’s more about relaxing rather than sleeping because I’m having so much fun,” he said. “This ain’t the town to sleep in. This ain’t the time to sleep. This is time to be on it like you want it. It’s different events happening day and night. I want to be active with everything, because I love the American athletes and competition. This is what I’m here for.”
Stewart said she’s extremely proud of how Snoop is successfully taking on the challenge. She was impressed by his ability to genuinely connect with Olympians and their family members.
“I think he’s done an amazing job for the Olympics,” said Stewart, who attended a equestrian team dressage event with Snoop on her 83rd birthday Saturday. For the horseback riding competition, the duo wore matching helmets, black jackets and white pants.
“This is the celebration of the finest athleticism ever in the world and he has made it so accessible to everybody,” she continued. “That’s his talent. Everybody loves him.”
Snoop also has the Games’ most in-demand souvenir: A Snoop Dogg pin, which shows him wearing a blue top while exhaling rings colored the same as the Olympics logo. He’s gifted one to tennis star Coco Gauff, but passed on offering more details for now on how to obtain more saying, “I’m going to be honest with you. I have zero answers for that.”
Meanwhile, Snoop has mastered the art of being himself in front of the television camera — even for a global audience. He initially went into his correspondent assignment, thinking NBC wanted more “buttoned-up” commentary from him until network executives encouraged him to be his authentic self — especially after seeing his in-person potential during the U.S. Olympic trials.
At the trials, Snoop had done casual on-video interviews with a few Olympians about their sports, including women’s basketball player A’ja Wilson, gymnast Sunisa Lee, skateboarder Jagger Eaton and beach volleyball players Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng. He met with Lyles and participated in a 200-meter race — clocking in at 34.44 seconds — with NBC analyst and former Trinidadian track star Ato Boldon and former U.S. national champion Wallace Spearmon.
“This is what I do. I do it every day,” said the rapper, who had already become a fan favorite during the Tokyo Games, when he and Kevin Hart did in-studio commentary for Peacock in which he called a “layup drill.”
“That’s why it’s not hard for me,” he said. “It’s not like an act. The bits that we do. They’re comfortable. They’re not stretched or forced. It’s me being me.”
Snoop’s presence in Paris is part of NBC’s bet to boost ratings by infusing coverage with pop culture. So far, the U.S. broadcaster’s strategy has worked, combined with the star power from U.S. Olympians such as Biles, Katie Ledecky and Sha’Carri Richardson. Through a five-day span beginning with the opening ceremony on July 26, the company averaged 34 million people a day watching on NBC, cable networks and Peacock, up from 19 million over the same period in Tokyo.
On Saturday, the network drew nearly 35 million, doubling Tokyo’s second Saturday numbers.
Tirico credits Snoop with being a major piece to NBC’s coverage. He said the rapper’s hard work matches his creative talents.
“That license to color outside the lines is what makes the greats, great. He knows how to do that and keep the picture looking good,” said the sportscaster, who has worked with Snoop during ideas sessions. “I’m not surprised because I’ve seen the process in some of the pre-meetings. He’s added more than I ever imagined he would.”
Snoop has come a long way since he broke through 30 years ago as part of the West Coast gangsta rap scene with Dr. Dre in a career marred with several brushes with the law. He branched out as an actor in films like “Training Day” and “Starsky & Hutch,” and as a reality star with Stewart’s “Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party.”
“But remember, I’m a rapper. So ain’t no rapper ever did what I’m doing,” said Snoop, who first showed his on-camera commentary capabilities for his viral take on the Jake Paul-Nate Robinson boxing match in 2020.
“It’s limitations to the field that I come from,” he said. “Rappers aren’t supposed to do this. I tend to do the unthinkable.”
Man charged with sending son to kill PnB Rock testifies
COMPTON, Calif. | Called to testify at his trial, a man vehemently denied Monday that he sent his 17-year-old son into a South Los Angeles restaurant to rob and kill hip-hop star PnB Rock.
“I understand you’re trying to put together your story,” Freddie Trone told a prosecutor during cross-examination in a Compton courtroom. “I never had nothing to do with it. I wasn’t there. I didn’t tell nobody to do nothing. I didn’t hand nobody no gun.”
Trone had not been asked directly about his guilt, but had grown increasingly frustrated with questioning from Deputy District Attorney Timothy Richardson and heatedly volunteered the denial.
The 42-year-old defendant, who took the stand Friday and continued his testimony Monday, is charged with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.
Richardson’s questions brought long pauses and bursts of anger as he asked Trone about the minutiae of his movements after the shooting and asked him to name the people who were with him, which he mostly refused to do.
“How is this relevant to trying to tie me to something?” Trone asked the prosecutor at one point. He later shouted, “for the fifth time!” after being asked where he drove his car and encountered his son.
Prosecutors say the boy, who is in the custody of the juvenile system and has not been tried, was acting on his father’s instructions when he walked into Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles on Sept. 12, 2022, and robbed and shot the Philadelphia rapper, who was eating there with his girlfriend. Defense lawyers say Trone was only an accessory after the fact who was trying to help his son.
PnB Rock, w, was best known for his 2016 hit “Selfish” and for making guest appearances on other artists’ songs such as YFN Lucci’s “Everyday We Lit” and Ed Sheeran’s “Cross Me” with Chance the Rapper.
Defendants testifying in criminal trials is rare and risky. They can invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid it. Their attorneys usually advise them to do so even if they want to testify, for fear they might slip up or come across as guilty.
Trone testified that he did not know he was a suspect for several days after the killing. Richardson asked why he fled to Las Vegas, where he was arrested more than two weeks later.
“I was all over the news. I didn’t know what to do, turn myself in without a lawyer?” Trone said, his voice rising. He said he decided to go to Vegas to “get myself some money so I can get a lawyer to help fight this.”
Closing arguments in the two-week trial are expected to start Monday afternoon.
Both sides agree that the teen son, who has been found temporarily incompetent to stand trial, shot PnB Rock, whose legal name is Rakim Allen, once in the chest and twice in the back.
At issue in the trial is whether Trone became involved before or after the killing.
The Associated Press does not generally name minors accused of crimes.
The trial in PnB Rock’s killing, not held in the downtown courthouse that is home to most high-profile proceedings, has attracted little attention. The gallery has remained nearly empty, with Rolling Stone the only media outlet giving it regular coverage.
A co-defendant who is not charged with murder, 46-year-old Tremont Jones, has pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, one count of conspiracy, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors allege Jones tipped off Trone to the rapper’s location, and they showed jurors surveillance video of the two men talking outside the restaurant minutes before the killing.
Allen’s fiancee, Stephanie Sibounheuang, was the trial’s most dramatic witness. She said she had a “bad feeling” about the situation before they walked into the restaurant. The couple was set to fly home to Atlanta later in the day.
She tearfully testified that the two had just gotten their food at Roscoe’s when the ski-masked shooter appeared, put his gun in Allen’s face, and demanded all the couple’s jewelry, which she said was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Sibounheuang said he seemed like a kid “who didn’t know what he was doing.”
She said the shooter then fired on Allen, who pushed her out of the way and shielded her to protect her as he was shot. She called him a “hero” who saved her life.
The masked shooter then collected a watch and other jewelry off Allen.
Police release images of suspects and car in killing of actor Johnny Wactor
LOS ANGELES | Police have released images of three suspects and the getaway car used in the killing of former “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor in downtown Los Angeles when he interrupted thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car.
The two images were released by the Los Angeles Police Department on Sunday in a community alert seeking help in identifying the suspects.
One image shows the vehicle, described as a stolen 2018 black Infiniti Q50 with a tan interior. The other image shows three individuals outside the car.
The alert states that Wactor was shot in the chest by “suspect 1,” who has tattoos above the left eye and on the right cheek.
The actor was shot around 3:20 a.m. on May 25.
His mother, Scarlett Wactor, told ABC 7 that her 37-year-old son had left work at a rooftop bar with a coworker when he saw someone at his car and thought it was being towed. A mask-wearing suspect opened fire, his mother said. The trio fled in the Infiniti.
Wactor portrayed Brando Corbin on the ABC soap opera from 2020 to 2022. He also appeared in a variety of films and TV series, including “Station 19,” “NCIS,” “Westworld” and the video game “Call of Duty: Vanguard.”
—From AP reports
