An Islamic activist group in the US is claiming responsibility for having Snoop Dog’s cameo appearance on the forthcoming ‘It's a Very Muppet Christmas Movie’ removed. While the Jim Henson Company has admitted Snoop recorded a scene for the TV special which has subsequently been cut they claim it is for timing reasons, and that the Snoop scene didn’t “add anything to the story line”. But the LA-based Project Islamic Hope is claiming its threat to boycott NBC if they screened the Snoop cameo was behind the decision: "Snoop has openly advocated the use of drugs, he financially supported a pornographic video and he writes and performs music that is both sexually explicit and violent," Imam Najee Ali, the group’s director told reporters. "This is not the image that our children should be exposed to in a Muppets show."
The group announced its planned boycott on the Larry Elder Show four days before an official announcement by the Henson group, and they quickly won the support of conservative television host Bill O'Reilly. But the Muppet producers claim the press release announcing the decision to cut Snoop actually went out before the initial protest. "They're embarrassed that they had to cave in to public pressure," Ali reasoned. "No corporation wants to be perceived as weak, they want to be perceived as strong ... and not giving in to threats from protesters. Our actions, as well as Mr. O'Reilly's ... we were the catalyst." A representative for Snoop Dogg declined to comment.