Despite being a vocal critic of President Trump, Snoop Dogg thanked him Wednesday (Jan. 20) for one of his last acts before leaving office: granting clemency to his friend and Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris.
The outgoing leader issued more than 140 pardons and commutations Tuesday, including for music executives such as Harris and Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez as well as rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black.
Snoop caught up with Harris during a Zoom meeting Sunday with criminal justice reform advocates Alice Johnson and Weldon Angelos, who shared the recording of the call with The New York Post, which the rapper allowed. Trump previously pardoned Angelos and Johnson, the latter a first-time nonviolent drug offender freed from her life sentence after lobbying by Kim Kardashian.
“I love what they did,” the former Death Row Records rapper reportedly said during the call in remarks shared with The Post. “That’s great work for the president and his team on the way out. They did some great work while they was in there and they did some great work on their way out. Let them know that I love what they did.”
Harris — an early financial backer of Death Row Records — saw his 25-years-to-life prison sentence for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and cocaine trafficking commuted by Trump after serving 30 years, reportedly after lobbying by Snoop, among others. In its statement, the White House said the 59-year-old “is a former entrepreneur and has mentored and taught fellow prisoners how to start and run businesses. He has completed courses towards business and journalism degrees. Upon his release, Mr. Harris will have a meaningful place of employment and housing with the support of his family.”
Snoop’s praise of the former president’s efforts comes four months after he shared a lengthy roster of people Trump had disrespected during his presidency in an Instagram video.
“So, me and my homeboys sittin’ up here talkin’ about all the people that President Trump disrespected… Women, gays, transgenders, Blacks, Mexicans, Asians, and now veterans,” he listed in the clip. “Hmmm. Seem like he’s disrespecting every color in the world and everything that ain’t what he is, which is a racist.”