Snoop Dogg Misses His Flight

The “American hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg”, as he is known to the press in South Africa, spent last night in police custody in London, instead of on stage in Johannesburg, where he was due to perform as part of the Premier Foods People’s Concert.

(Only in South Africa could a name as dull as Premier Foods – makers of Snowflake Flour and Iwisa Mielie Meal! – be coupled with a name as redolent of itchy rebellion and straight up gangsta cool as Snoop’s, y’all. )

Mr. Dogg and his mates apparently got a tad riled after being barred from the British Airways VIP lounge at Heathrow (some were flying to SA economy-class), and, when the police were called in to sort things out, the poor law enforcers were “flung around” like “rag dolls” by “20 stone” men (that’s stone, not stoned men), who also tossed bottles of liquor through glass cabinets like they were “pillows”. That’s one side of the story, at least; other eyewitnesses have spoken of the cops’ outright racism in their handling of the matter.

• Follow the Snoop saga: Guardian | Cape Times | News24

Snoop fans in Durban and Cape Town, meanwhile, can rest easy: it seems he’ll be in SA for the last two of his three concerts, scheduled for tonight and Monday night respectively.