Rapper Snoop Dogg ripped San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick as "hypocritical" for praising the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and challenged him to choose between football and "being a revolutionary."
"He's sort of kind of hypocritical in so many words because he's pushing this, but at the same time he’s giving credit for this — and this is the same abuse that [Cubans] have been taking,"Snoop Dogg told Fox Sports on Friday.
"So, it makes you hypocritical to be able to speak on this topic and that topic."
Snoop Dogg referenced Kaepernick's comments earlier Friday at a media event leading up to last Sunday's game between the 49ers and the Miami Dolphins in Florida.
Castro had died the Friday before, on Nov. 25, at age 90.
"One thing that Fidel Castro did do is they have the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their education system than they do in their prison system, which we do not do here, even though we’re fully capable of doing that," Kaepernick said.
He was booed during the game, CNN reports, which the Dolphins won 31-24.
Kaepernick clarified his comments after the game.
"What I said was I agree with the investment in education," he told reporters. "I also agree with the investment in free universal healthcare, as well as the involvement in helping end apartheid in South Africa.
"Trying to push the false narrative that I was a supporter of the oppressive things he [Castro] did is just not true," the quarterback added. "I said I support the investment in education, I never said I support the oppressive things he did."
On Kaepernick's refusal to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner," Snoop Dogg said that he now must make a more fundamental choice.
"In the beginning, I understood it thoroughly because I’m one who’s had situations with police and I deal with it and I understand where he was coming from," the rapper said.
"But at the same time, it’s like you have to really stand for it — and I don’t believe he can do that and play football at the same time, because there's too many rules and regulations and things that he has to deal with as opposed to being a revolutionary."