Rapper star Snoop Dogg made a surprise appearance on the final stage of the 2024 Olympic Torch Relay in Paris. The artist was seen carrying the flames through the streets of Saint-Denis, Paris on July 26, 2024, marking the beginning of the Olympics.
The 52-year-old dressed for the occasion in full sports gear and began walking surrounded by security guards while saluting and blowing kisses to the crowd.
He continued to smile and dance while holding a long, bronze-colored torch, eventually reuniting with the rest of the final torchbearers charged with igniting the cauldron that officially opens the 33rd edition of the sports competition.
Snoop Dogg joined the 2024 Paris Olympics as a torchbearer, jogging while greeting fans ahead of the sports event
Snoop Dogg will also be a regular host on Primetime in Paris, a companion show by NBC serving as a “special correspondent” and airing every day of the event after the competitions are over at 7:30 pm ET.
Fans can expect to see Snoop interacting with Team USA athletes, such as Simone Biles and their families, while sharing their struggles and triumphs with viewers in a lighthearted but informative manner. The rapper will also take regular tours through the country providing a first-person perspective of the atmosphere surrounding the Olympics.
Snoop Dogg is only the latest of a long list of celebrities that have had the honor of bearing the Olympic torch and igniting the cauldron that signals the start of the event, joining a long list of stars including actors, sports icons, politicians and even Great Britain’s Royal Family.
Have a look at other notable celebrities that have carried the Olympic torch at the event’s previous iterations
Ellen DeGeneres
The popular talk-show host was part of the torch relay of the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. The event saw the full attendance of all countries with a National Olympic Committee for the first time since 1996, and marked the first occasion athletes from countries such as Chile, Taipei, Dominican Republic, Georgia, and Israel won Olympic gold
Sylvester Stallone
The Rocky star joined DeGeneres as a torchbearer kicking off the event by running across Venice Beach, California with the symbol of the games on June 16, 2004. “It’s the proudest moment of my life,” said the actor before starting his jog. “I just hope I can live up to what this flame represents, which is honor, dignity, and a never-say-die spirit.”
Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry
The royal trio greeted the 2012 Olympic torchbearers as they relayed the fire in front of Buckingham Palace in London on July 26 of that year. The relay saw the torch go through a number of famous landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, Hyde Park, and 10 Downing street, spending two days in the city to finally arrive at its cauldron, marking the start of the London games.
Will.I.Am
Also participating in the London 2012 relay was fellow musician Will. I. Am of Black Eyed Peas fame, who preceded Snoop Dogg as a songwriter tasked with lighting the olympic cauldron. His bearing of the torch sparked some controversy as the music producer took the time to write a tweet on his phone before starting his jog. “I remember in 1984 the Olympics in Los Angeles, me being a little Will watching it on TV wishing I could be at the Olympic Games,” he said in an interview with Daily Mail.
Halle Berry
The oscar-winning actress joined Snoop Dogg in having the honor of carrying the fire for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Her jog began in Cannes accompanied by the director of the eponymous Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Fremaux, on July 16, 2024. She lit the torch while standing on the red carpet steps of Palais des Festivals, while dressed in full white and greeting her fans.
Muhammad Ali
Having previously earned an olympic gold medal for the boxing light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics, Ali returned to the event for its 1996 Atlanta edition. He bravely held the torch that ultimately lit the cauldron, while dealing with signs of Parkinson’s disease, a condition he developed while active in 1970, and was officially diagnosed with in 1984.
That’s one giant doobie, Snoop.
Seriously though: is anyone else disturbed that they chose a bunch of celebrities for these honors? I don’t ask this because I dislike any particular one; it’s not about whether or not I like Ellen Degeneris, or Snoop Dog. It’s that even after we’re finished shoveling obscene amounts of money and worship, we have to ply them with more honors?
He was one out of 11,000 people to carry the flame. I’m mostly wondering why a Lithuanian website makes a stupid article about a US-american has-been carrying the flame in Paris. They could have written about so many interesting people, who wasn’t. Sergey Bubka also carried the flame, he’s Ukrainian, Thomas Pesquet, and thousands of people that are either completely unknown or excel in sports, both para and others.
Yeah, it’s a bit weird. It makes sense when they are athletes — the Muhammad Ali one is especially poignant given his history with the Olympics — but I think the Olympics are a good time to elevate athletes and people who promote various forms of personal health (including mental) and civic health (like community leaders). The already famous are really there only to help make the Olympic brand more attractive to advertisers and corporate donors.
O dear God, let’s not do “civic leaders.” The less politics the better
