Some legal action against Snoop has gone to the doggs.
Fo'shizzle.
A judge has tossed a lawsuit brought by a California man who said a message he left on Snoop's answering machine was illegally sampled by the rap star in the track "Pimp Slapp'd" off Snoop's 2002 album, Paid Tha Cost to Be Da Bo$$.
The man, who filed the suit last March in Los Angeles Superior Court, identified himself in legal papers only as "John Doe," claiming both he and his elderly mother were in danger because his one-minute message dissed Snoop's ex-boss and nemesis, hip-hop mogul Marion "Suge" Knight.
The plaintiff, a resident of Compton, left the message on Snoop's machine in October 2002. On the recording he id's himself as "Jim Bob" and expresses solidarity with the Doggfather (real name: Calvin Broadus) in his feud with Knight, according to the complaint.
Superior Court Judge Lawrence Crispo sided with Snoop's attorneys and ruled last November that "Jim Bob" did not have a right to privacy after leaving the message, and therefore could not be entitled to any monetary damages. The judge upheld his decision on Jan. 8 when Bob's attorney failed to file a motion for the judge to reconsider.
Fellow defendants Doggy Style Records, Priority Records and Capitol Records were all cleared, as well. Attorney Neville Johnson, representing "Jim Bob," was unavailable for comment.
There was also no comment from Snoop, who was spotted in Houston Saturday as the New England Patriots warmed up for what became their big Super Bowl win Sunday. But his camp has been busy trying to clean up another legal mess.
An actress who appeared on his MTV sketch comedy show, Doggy Fizzle Televizzle, sued Snoop and MTV in December, claiming she suffered physical and emotional distress at the hands of producers after they edited a bedroom scene to make it look like she was nude and engaged in sex acts with the actor playing her husband. She's seeking unspecified monetary damages.
His mom, meanwhile, is ratcheting up the feud with Knight. Beverly Broadus Green filed a lawsuit against the imprisoned rap impresario for slander over "Tha Row (Y'All Hoes)," a Knight-produced tune on the Dysfunktional Family soundtrack that alleged Knight had slept with her and Snoop's aunt, Maria Watkins.
Both Green and Watkins said in the suit that the song was an attempt to goad Snoop and another rapper, Delmar "Daz" Dillinger, into "taking retaliatory action" against Knight.
The two women are seeking restraining orders against Knight, bodyguards to protect them from alleged threats they say they've suffered as a result of the legal action, general and punitive damages, past and future lost earnings, and attorneys fees.