It's déjà vu for the Doggfather.
For the second time in less than a year, British authorities have denied Snoop Dogg a visa to enter the U.K., this time over concerns that his coheadlining appearance with Diddy on their current Pass the Puff tour would not be in the public's best interest.
The rappers were scheduled to play five dates in Great Britain, including a massive show in front of 65,000 fans at London's Wembley Arena on Mar. 27. But unless government officials change their minds at the last minute, it looks as if the Wembley gig, at least, will proceed with Diddy performing alone. It's still unclear whether Snoop's absence will also force promoters to scrap upcoming stops in Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow and Nottingham.
"Snoop and his team are mystified at the decision and are hoping that the British government will reconsider this decision," the hip-hopster's rep, Celena Aponte, said in a statement. "He has asked how he can help rectify the situation and would happily talk to and give assurances to the officials."
One suggestion Snoop's camp reportedly threw out in a bid to earn the government's good graces was making a donation to an antiviolence charity.
For his part, the 35-year-old emcee (aka Calvin Broadus) said he was upset about the diss and hoped to persuade those in charge to give his visa application another look.
"It feels like a slap in the face if I don't get to perform there. I think [British officials] need to speak to the kids. If they say they don't want big Snoopy Dogg there, then I'll keep it moving. Otherwise, open up and let me do what I do," Snoop told MTV.
"With my mike and presence I can reach the kids the politicians can't and tell them to stop the violence and killings that are currently going on in the U.K. I'm here to perform and give people what they want—to be a peace figure."
He also noted that, if anything, his historic trek with Diddy was about promoting an upbeat view of hip-hop that unifies people, not about revisiting the former rivals' old feuds from the days of the so-called East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry.
"Me and Puffy come from a background where with the East Coast and the West Coast there were a lot of differences in the hip-hop community. But now we want to go around the world and show positive examples in the U.K." Snoop said.
The multiplatinum-selling performer acknowledged his past run-ins with the law, but said he hoped that authorities would recognize his effort to leave that part of his life behind.
"I think if people could hear me saying this, they'd see I'm about peace, love and harmony," he added. "I can't control my drugs and gang-banging past. People can see that I now have a different identity and that I've changed my lifestyle around completely. We let the Beatles in the U.S.A., so please let me in here."
Unfortunately, he may have made those changes a little too late. Snoop first got into trouble with U.K. officials in April 2006 when he and five members of his 30-strong entourage were arrested on charges of violent disorder at London's Heathrow Airport after getting into a row with police and airport staff. The fracas occurred after the group was refused entry into British Airway's first-class lounge because only three of them had first-class tickets. Seven officers were injured in the incident.
After spending the night in jail, Snoop and his party were released with a caution. However, British Airways banned the artist and his posse from all its future flights, and the government subsequently decided not to grant him an entry visa the following month.
And that's not the only bad travel story for Snoop.
The Doggy Fizzle wordsmith was collared last September by airport security at the John Wayne Airport in Southern California for allegedly attempting to carry a collapsible police baton aboard a flight from the O.C. to New York. He has pleaded not guilty to felony possession of a deadly weapon in that case.
The next month, he was busted at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California, after a search of his car turned up a gun and marijuana, a big no-no for Snoop, given his convicted felon status stemming from a 1990 cocaine bust.
After posting $35,000 bail, he was nabbed yet again in November in Burbank, when local cops pulled him over as he left a taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno while serving a warrant resulting from the previous bust. In the ensuing search of his vehicle, police discovered another handgun, marijuana and cocaine in an illegal hidden compartment. The rapper was briefly jailed before being released on $60,000 bail, but the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office is still investigating and has yet to file formal charges.
Earlier this month, Snoop found himself in the pound yet again when Swedish authorities detained the Diary of a Pimp videomaker and two companions on suspicion of being under the influence of narcotics as they were driving to an after-party following a Pass the Puff show in Stockholm. He was held in custody for four hours and released after providing police with urine samples, which will be sent to a lab for analysis. If found guilty, he'll most likely face a minor fine amounting to a few hundred dollars.