Nelly, Snoop Dogg, Soulja Boy, and Rick Ross all performed at Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremonies, but Stephen A. Smith defended them on a recent episode of his show.
Smith says Soulja had every right to get a bag from Trump.
“Soulja Boy ain’t got no right to make some money? 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,” he said.
Snoop received the most backlash because of past comments he made about rappers who support Trump.
I’m still TAKEN BACK by Snoop performing for Trump! I think it was an intentional LOW KEY smack in the face by Trump…a big fk’ you to the Black Community! I never expected SNOOP to flip! #FBA #BlackTwitter #BlackMen #Trump #BlackConversations #Inauguration2025 #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/2oMJZfxNzs
— Aletha (@CampbellAJ70) January 20, 2025
Smith says that we can’t forget that Snoop has a youth football team and is sending “brothers” to the NFL and should not cancel him simply because he accepted a check from Trump.
“Nelly is not a political person,” he continued. “He doesn’t get involved in the campaigns. 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.”