Is Snoop Dogg the ladies' man he plays in his music videos?
Is there any truth to the cheating allegations? And who exactly is Mrs. Dogg?
Before he was Snoop Dogg, a multi-platinum rapper with a long list of hits,
he was simply Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. from Long Beach,
California. While walking the halls of Long Beach Polytechnic High School,
he famously sold weed to Cameron Diaz, as the actor herself revealed on "Lopez Tonight."
"He was very tall and skinny, wore lots of ponytails on his head, and I'm
pretty sure I bought weed from him."
High school was also where he crossed paths with his future wife.
The young couple first met through a mutual friend at a high school football game,
where Snoop asked Shante Taylor for her number. However, Shante told Showbiz Cheat Sheet it wasn't
until their second meeting that the future star actually obtained her phone number.
In 2019, the rap legend took a trip back to those halls and gave a special performance for
his fellow class of 1989 graduates at their 30th high school reunion. It's clear that the school
holds a special place in Snoop's heart, and it's probably because he met his future wife there.
Snoop Dogg's music may make him sound like a ladies' man, but it took a lot of work to win the
heart of Shante Taylor Broadus. In an interview on "The Feature Presentation" radio show,
​​the hip hop star revealed all the romantic gestures he made while courting Shante, saying,
"I had to call her on the phone. I had to write love letters. I had to do all of that."
Those gestures definitely earned him brownie points with Shante's mother.
In an interview with ShowBiz Cheat Sheet, Shante revealed
that Snoop and his future mother-in-law immediately hit it off. She recalled,
"We started talking on the phone, and then he started becoming close
with my mom — talking to my mom more than he'd talk to me [...] I would come home,
and he would be at my house talking to my mom!"
Her mother may have been keen on Snoop, but Shante played it cool. Snoop revealed on "The Feature
Presentation" show that it took over four months of courting her before the two would even kiss.
The high school sweethearts tied the knot in 1997, three years after the birth of their first son,
Cordé Broadus. Though Shante Taylor Broadus was around Snoop Dogg in the early days of his career,
adjusting to his growing popularity in the industry wasn't easy.
When troubles arose early in their relationship, all the members of his inner circle encouraged
him to dump Shante, except for one, and that was Tupac Shakur. He revealed on "The View,"
"It was a point in time when me and my girlfriend at the time,
we were having ups and downs. And a lot of my friends was telling me that I should just
go ahead and be solo because I was Snoop Doggy Dogg, and I could have any woman that I wanted."
"And Tupac pulled me to the side and was like, 'Forget what they talking about!
That girl loves you. You need to marry her.'"
His friend's advice turned out to be some of the most valuable he'd ever received,
as Snoop's marriage has since endured for over two decades.
It even survived Snoop temporarily having a change of heart.
In 2004, the high school sweethearts hit a low point in their relationship. Snoop Dogg
shocked fans by officially filing for divorce from Shante Taylor Broadus and citing "irreconcilable
differences." However, there was still hope in the couple's love story after the rapper decided
not to go through with the split. The stress of the industry played a role in tearing them apart,
but in the end, he chose to keep his family together. As Snoop told MTV,
"This music industry is a mother, man, and it'll take your vision and blur it.
But God is good, so I understand that I need my wife and my kids
in my life — so I threw the papers away. I don't want to get a divorce."
In 2010, Shante recalled to Sister 2 Sister magazine that Snoop
actually asked her for advice when he was thinking about leaving her, saying,
"So he didn't know, it was just a lot."
After he had a change of heart, she said he apologized to their kids and
shared what he'd been feeling. Shante also seemed certain that Snoop wouldn't
be filing more divorce papers in the future, and said of their relationship,
"We're used to one another [...] We're older now and I know that he's not going anywhere,
I'm not going anywhere."
After coming back from the brink of divorce, Snoop Dogg knew he had to go above and beyond
to prove his love for Shante. His close friend, Charlie Wilson, suggested that he make a grand
gesture to his wife and renew their vows in 2008. Wilson reportedly offered up his 20-acre ranch
and invited over 200 guests to watch Snoop Dogg surprise his wife and ask her to marry
him again. The party even featured guest performances from Shante's favorite artists,
and the sweet ceremony was filmed for the couple's reality series.
The shock on Shante's face was evident when Snoop got up on stage and revealed
why their closest family and friends were gathered together. Snoop told HipHollywood,
"It was such a beautiful surprise because my wife didn't know what was going on.
And Charlie worked with me on this because we was having tough times."
The romantic gesture worked, and the rap star credits Wilson and
his other friends for helping him keep his marriage intact. As Snoop explained,
"You need a lot of help. But you gotta be willing to receive that help,
and be willing to get checked [...] And a lot of people ain't willing to get checked because
when they get to a certain point in their life, they feel like they're uncheckable."
Snoop Dogg and Shante Taylor Broadus share three kids together. Their oldest, Cordé Broadus,
is 27 years old and a father of three himself. Sadly, he made headlines in 2019 when he announced
the tragic passing of his 10-day-old son. On Instagram, Snoop's wife mourned the loss of
their grandson and celebrated his short life by sharing an emotional video of herself singing.
The couple's middle child, Cordell Broadus, took the football field at UCLA by storm as
a student-athlete. The 24-year old now dabbles in modeling and has walked the runway for major
fashion labels including Dolce & Gabbana and Tommy Hilfiger. He's also the father of two children.
The youngest of the Broadus bunch is Cori Broadus,
also known as Princess and CHOC. The 22-year-old is Snoop and Shante's only daughter and has made
quite an impression on the world. Fans have heard her voice previously on her dad's 2012 album
"Reincarnated," and she's even ventured out with her own solo music career.
Snoop has embraced fatherhood every step of the way, telling Esquire in 2008,
"Fatherhood is more than a job, it's more than a responsibility.
It's a lifestyle. You gotta be prepared to live it."
He's since embraced being a cool grandpa too. In a 2015 "Today" interview,
months after the birth of his first grandchild, he joked about his new role, saying,
"I'm going to be a gullible, get-away-with-everything kind of grandpa."
Though he has three children with his wife, Shante Taylor Broadus,
Snoop Dogg is actually a father of four. He also shares a son with Laurie Holmond.
Julian Broadus was born in 1998 after Snoop was already married to Shante. According to Holmond,
Snoop was present when the child was born, but their relationship faltered afterward.
When the reality show "Snoop Dogg's Father Hood" premiered, Julian Broadus was noticeably absent,
which is something that hurt him. Julian told Star magazine at the time,
"I should be with him on the show, but I'm not. I don't want to be an actor;
I want to be a basketball player. But I want to be on the show to get to know my family.
It would be so nice for all of us to just hang out together. I hope we can do that one day."
The rumored rift between the two families seems to be in a much better place now.
The 24-year-old can be seen on his Instagram posing with his other siblings and nephews.
In 2019, Snoop Dogg made headlines after socialite and YouTube personality Celina
Powell created a tell-all video about their alleged affair. In the since-deleted video,
Powell allegedly made claims that the rapper flew her out to visit him, and the two engaged
in unprotected sex. At the time, she shared videos and text messages to back up those claims.
The situation got even messier when Powell began directly poking at Snoop's wife
and tagging her in shady Instagram posts. As the rumors began to swirl,
Shante shared her own cryptic Instagram post, writing,
"U ever watch somebody u love turn into somebody u don't know."
Fans worried about the state of her marriage with the rapper. However,
Snoop responded to the allegations by making light of them and promising to
produce a reality television show about clout chasers.
After his alleged affair with Celina Powell was exposed,
Snoop Dogg had a lot to get off his chest. In 2020, he hopped on a remix for a track called
"Don't Be Mad At Me," and his apologetic lyrics seem to be directed at his wife.
Months later, Shante caused a stir when she shared another cryptic message on Instagram, writing,
"We all wasted the best versions of ourselves on someone who doesn't give a single f—."
But as of now, the two have weathered the cheating storm and seem to still be going strong.
In October 2021, Shante marked Snoop's 50th birthday on Instagram with a photo of the
couple looking happy, and her caption celebrated their tight bond. She wrote,
"Love always. Family forever."
"I need to love this woman that loves me, and had my kids, and put my life into perspective,
and let my business be secondary."
When she was 6 years old, Cori Broadus developed multiple alarming symptoms,
including dramatic weight loss. She was soon diagnosed with lupus.
The autoimmune disease was something the Broadus family couldn't understand at first,
but they knew they had to come together to support their daughter. Even though it was a difficult
time, Snoop Dogg revealed that it's something that saved his marriage, as he told People,
"Cori's lupus showed us we need to be together forever."
His wife revealed that before the diagnosis, they were on the brink of divorce, telling People,
"Without [Snoop], I don't know what I'd have done. It's amazing how this all turned out. We
were gonna get a divorce. But we wouldn't have gotten through [the lupus diagnosis] that way."
Since going public with their daughter's diagnosis, both Snoop
and Shante have used their platforms to raise awareness in hopes of finding a cure.
After calling Shante "Boss Lady" for years, Snoop gave her a fitting new title as his manager.
In 2021, the rap star revealed that his longtime wife is now managing his career.
The promotion came shortly after he was appointed executive creative and
strategic consultant for the iconic Def Jam record label.
Shante Taylor Broadus' new role puts her in charge of her husband's various business
ventures, something that's not new to her, considering she was his manager when his
rap career was just taking off. In a press release announcing her new role, Shante said,
"The industry at large is seeing a major shift in more representation of
Black women in key executive roles. I am excited to enter this official position,
helping to further expand Snoop's wide-ranging empire."
Appointing his wife as his manager was important to Snoop. He told GQ,
"Well, making my wife my manager was very key, because that's my backbone, that's my heart and
my soul, that's the one that I love the most, that I trust the most. That's our problem as Black men
sometimes: We get so caught up in our business that we forget to let our spouse in the business."
After everything they've gone through, this power couple is still doing big things together.
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus,
even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite celebrities are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.