Uncle Snoop is letting people know not to mess with his name.
The West Coast rap legend has moved to take legal action against the creators of a 2021 holiday sensation that has swept the Internet.
According to the New York Post, the “Gin and Juice” rapper is suing the company behind Snoop on the Stoop, an unauthorized hip-hop version of the Elf on the Shelf franchise.
Instead of a whimsical white elf, made famous from the 2005 children’s book, this doll is made in the image and likeness of Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus.
The doll currently sold by multiple online retailers, who have all put their spinoff on the doll, has the rapper smoking a blunt, sporting his ’90s signature braids with jingle bells on the bottom (instead of bobos), shades, and a green elf suit.
The 50-year-old rapper took to social media to distance himself from the products.
“I have no connection to the SNOOP ON A STOOP product and will be taking legal action against those making it and whoever is selling it.
One of the companies that received a notice from the “Dogfather” was MuckyChris. That 3D statue and doll manufacturer’s owner Chris Milnes said, “I was contacted by Snoop’s lawyers and immediately removed all Snoop references from my website within a day.”
The Posts says that it “is unclear” if MuckyChris actually sold out of the Snoop elves or has no more because he stopped selling them after the legal threat.
Milnes claims that he was the first to come up with the concept and that other companies have bitten on his unsanctioned come-up.
Adam the Creator, who created a book titled, “Roll up…It’s Snoop on the Stoop ® A Hood Tradition,” placed a registration logo on his product. Some versions, sold by Sitabuy.com, come in green and purple versions. Some people have made Christmas cookies based on the character. One version, sold by soughtstars.com, has him with a cannabis leaf dangling around his neck.
The popular retail site Etsy is currently selling the dolls mostly for $29 but with prices going up to $99.
“What happened next was not my doing. Apparently, scam companies using my photos flooded social media with ads and took orders. I placed an order as well to find out what was going on. 100% scam from Chinese-based companies. They take the orders and disappear with your money in a week,” he said.
Sportskeeda says that Milnes launched and started selling the dolls in November (though they posted an image from October of 2020 of the owner and a supersized version of the doll) and comes in two sizes: 16-inches for $99.99 and 32-inch for $199.99.
Social media reveals that the Snoop on the Stoop phenomenon has been going on as far back as 2019.
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