Harriet. Aretha. Celie. Cynthia Erivo has played iconic Black women, real and imagined, on screen and on Broadway. And she’s about to do it again. The actress has been cast as Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s mom, in the upcoming Snoop Dogg biopic, Snoop.
The film chronicles the life, music career and cultural evolution of Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus Jr., including his relationship with late rapper Tupac Shakur, who will be portrayed by Camron Jones.
But the casting announcement has reopened a familiar debate about the British Nigerian actress portraying Black American icons, with some commenters revisiting remarks they believe disparaged the culture.
Cynthia Erivo Casting Controversy Explained
Much of the criticism stems from a 2013 tweet in which Erivo used a phrase that critics interpreted as mocking Black American speech and vernacular. The exchange resurfaced amid objections to her casting as Harriet Tubman in the 2019 film Harriet. Erivo addressed the tweets then, saying they were taken out of context and that she had not been mocking anyone.
On a Reddit thread titled “Cynthia Erivo to Play Tupac Shakur’s Mother in Snoop Dogg Biopic,” a contributor questioned why she continues to land roles as major Black American figures given those past remarks, leaving many to argue over whether she respects these women from American backgrounds.
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In her 2024 EBONY cover interview, Erivo shared what draws her to the women she portrays.
“None of these roles are by accident. I’m very specific about the roles I choose to play,” she stated. “The invisible thread that links each of these women together is their determination, and that none of them really fit—they’re all renegades and, in their own way, outside of the norm.”
Some people are rooting for the casting. “Cynthia Erivo is a pretty great actress, and I can see her doing a great job as Afeni,” one commenter wrote on X.
@DiscussingFilm Cynthia Erivo as Tupac’s mom in a Snoop Dogg biopic was NOT on my 2026 bingo card but honestly? She’s about to act her heart out!
— HB (@huntersboot) November 4, 2026
But even that came with a reservation. The commenter questioned why Shakur would need to be featured in a film centered on Snoop and worried about how Tupac’s legacy would be portrayed.
Not much has been released on how Shakur’s story will play out on screen. But her history goes way beyond being the mother immortalized in “Dear Mama.”
Afeni Shakur’s Legacy
Shakur joined the Black Panther Party in New York City in 1968. In 1969, she was arrested alongside fellow Panthers and charged with conspiracy to bomb public buildings. She represented herself and was acquitted in May 1971. The following month, she gave birth to Tupac.
Tupac honored their complicated relationship in his 1995 song “Dear Mama.” After his murder in 1996, she helped preserve his work and support another generation of artists, establishing the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation in 1997. The Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts opened in Georgia in 2005.
She also co-produced Holler If Ya Hear Me, a Broadway musical that used her son’s music to tell an original fictional story, and received an executive producer credit on the Tupac biopic All Eyez on Me. Zimbabwean American actress Danai Gurira portrayed her in that film.
In 2004, eight years after Tupac’s murder, A Different World actress Jasmine Guy, who formed a close friendship with Shakur after Tupac appeared on an episode during the series’ original run, published Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary, exploring the activist’s childhood, political awakening and extraordinary life.