SNOOP Dogg's uncle Reo Varnado, who is also father of WWE star Sasha Banks, has died from unknown causes.
The rapper called his late uncle a ‘blessing’ and said he ‘will be missed.’
Snoop Dogg's uncle Reo Varnado has died Reo was a beloved barbecue restaurant owner who even appeared on Snoop and Martha Stewart's TV showCredit: Instagram Reo was father to WWE superstar Sasha BanksCredit: GettySnoop Dogg took to Instagram on Saturday to share the sad news that his uncle had died.
"Uncle. Reo. U will be missed. Thank u for loving me and the whole world u were a blessing," he wrote alongside a photo of the pair by a barbecue grill.
His cause of death is currently unknown.
Aside from having a famous rap star nephew, Reo was the proud father of Sasha Banks, a WWE wrestling star.
"So proud of my daughter @sashabankswwe beautiful and talented #Boss" he once captioned an Instagram photo posing with her.
Reo owned Reo's Ribs, a popular barbecue restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
The restaurant faced challenges after it burned down a few years ago, but the entrepreneur soldiered on and reopened it in 2018.
REO'S MARK ON SNOOP
Reo was close with Snoop Dogg, evidenced by the fact that he appeared on the rapper and Martha Stewart's cooking show.
"And what's the secret ingredient?" Martha asked the cook in a clip shared by KOIN6, who dedicated an entire segment to Reo years back.
"The secret ingredient? When you've got Jesus in it you don't need nothing else," Reo responded to Martha.
Reo was also in a local Portland Gospel group called The Beyonds and sang solo as well.
He was taping with Snoop and Martha when his restaurant burned down, per KOIN6's news story.
"I'm hurt, but I know how to forgive," he told the local news station.
Flowers were placed around the fencing of his damaged restaurant by the community.
HIS HEALTH TROUBLES
Reo was struggling with health issues for a long time, posting on Instagram about his troubles.
He wrote in 2020: “I want to thank God for bringing me back from the dead, I died 8 times.
“I had a nurse that was unexperienced who stuck me with a needle and couldn’t get the needle to work I told him you hurting me and he stuck me with the second needle.
“Another nurse came and brought the third needle that when I got the blood infection it went up my left arm and gave me a major heart attack.
"The Hospital gave me up they send me home to die but God didn’t let me down.
"When I died I went to a Beautiful place that I never seen before."
In addition to his daughter, Reo is survived by Sasha Banks' mother Judith Varnado, though it's unclear if they were still together upon his passing.
HIS WWE STAR DAUGHTER
Reo's daughter is a pro wrestler whose birth name is Mercedes Varnado but brawls under the stage name Sasha Banks.
Her WWE profile described her as "an independent wrestler out of Boston" who "worked her way through various promotions before finally getting a foot in the door in WWE NXT."
Her profile also reads: "Eventually, the quiet but talented young woman found her voice, and The Boss was born.
"Since then, Banks hasn’t looked back for a second.
"The ultra-confident Banks [competed] in the first-ever Women’s WWE Iron Man, Hell in a Cell, Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber Matches, all while capturing multiple Raw Women’s Titles and ... [becoming part of] the first WWE Women's Tag Team Champions."
Reo Varnado, Snoop Dogg's uncle pictured above with Jamie Foxx, has diedCredit: Instagram The late Reo Varnado's daughter is Sasha Banks, a WWE star Sasha Banks' birth name is Mercedes Varnado and she is a famous wrestlerCredit: Getty He owned Reo's Ribs, a popular barbecue spot in Portland, OregonCredit: Instagram He was a gospel singer beloved by his Oregon community for his big personalityCredit: InstagramWe pay for your stories!
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Bernadette Giacomazzo Oct 20, 2021
On the 50th birthday of West Coast legend Snoop Dogg, the multi-faceted magnate announced that he was part of a new era of record label releases.
According to Yahoo, the Doggfather just dropped “Big Subwoofer,” the first single off a new album called “The Algorithm.” He also announced that he was part of a new supergroup that featured Ice Cube, E-40 and Too Short.
This move by Snoop Dogg is the first he’s made in his new role as an executive at the Def Jam label. This role, according to the outlet, would allow him to work in a strategic way across both executive and artistic platforms. According to Snoop, his role is “to help the artists and give them love and wisdom and guidance and understanding, teach them some tricks that I learned in the game — to diversify their portfolios to be superstars.”
And this is just the latest in intelligent business moves that have made this West Coast legend a multi-millionaire. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Snoop Dogg has an estimated net worth of $150 million, making him one of the wealthiest rappers in the world today, and one of the wealthiest rappers from the 1990s West Coast Hip-Hop scene.
Let’s take a look at the wide variety of “Uncle Snoop’s” investments.
Editorial note: The net worth listed in this piece is a speculative estimate drawn from a variety of online sources.
Snoop Dogg is one of the most successful artists to come out of the 1990s West Coast Hip-Hop scene. According to ClassicHipHop.com, Snoop Dogg has sold more than 23 million albums in the United States alone, and more than 37 million albums worldwide. He has at least seven platinum albums, and one gold album.
According to his IMDb page, Snoop Dogg has no shortage of film and television credits to his name. Some of his more successful roles include “The Wash,” and “Mac and Devlin Go To High School.” Most recently, he starred in “BMF,” and he’s rumored to be filming for Season three of the hit Star Wars series, “The Mandalorian” (His cousin, Mercedes Varnado a/k/a WWE wrestler Sasha Banks, also starred in the series).
In 2005, Snoop Dogg founded the Snoop Youth Football League in Southern California, which gave football opportunities to underprivileged students in the greater Los Angeles area. In 2018, it was reported to be the largest football league of its kind.
Snoop Dogg also periodically participates in “turkey drives” in Inglewood, CA, around Thanksgiving time. In 2016 alone, he gave away more than 3,000 turkeys to needy families.
In 2013, Snoop Dogg (going by the name Snoop Lion, at the time) released an app called Snoopify, a photo-sharing app. The app, which was released in tandem with Neon Roots and The Cashmere Agency, is still available today.
In 2014, Snoop Dogg made headlines when he invested in Reddit, according to Newsweek. Snoop, along with Jared Leto and Peter Thiel, injected more than $50 million into the site. As of August 2021, The Verge reported that Reddit was worth more than $10 billion, so it’s safe to say that Snoop’s investment in “the front page of the Internet” was a wise one.
The bulk of Snoop Dogg’s non-music and entertainment ventures are in the cannabis industry.
One of his first investments was in his own cannabis brand, Leafs by Snoop, which he first formulated in November 2015. He told Variety that his investment in his own cannabis brand was prescient in nature, because it came long before legalization became a “thing” (Naturally, his business exploded after California and other states began legalizing pot).
In December 2020, AfroTech reported that Casa Verde Capital — the investment firm founded by Snoop Dogg — had closed on its second round of funding for $100 million.
In May 2021, a medical cannabis company called Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies — which received backing from Snoop Dogg — began trading on the London Stock Exchange, according to MSNBC.
In March 2019, Snoop Dogg founded the esports gaming league, the Gangsta Gaming League, in partnership with Merry Jane. The inaugural team, according to PC Gamer, was comprised of Snoop Dogg’s closest gamer friends: Red Woods, Red Grant, JC, Tripo Loc, Lala, Shelton, Waniac and Young Sagg. They battled for the title of “Top Dogg,” and a piece of an $11,000 prize pool. The Merry Jane Facebook page periodically gives updates on the Gangsta Gaming League to this day.
Recently, commercials for 19 Crimes Wine have been airing on broadcast television.
But as Billboard reports, this deal has been in the works for quite some time.
Back in July 2020, AfroTech reported the announcement of a multi-year partnership with 19 Crimes.
“I’ve been a fan of this wine and I’m excited to unveil my ‘Snoop Cali Red’ this summer and share the experience with all my fans. It’s one of the most successful brands in the market,” Snoop Dogg said back in 2020. “So I’m more than eager to bring this collaboration to the world!”
In 2012, at the height of his “pimp” persona, Snoop Dogg asked why PETA doesn’t throw paint on a pimp’s fur coat.
But the animal rights group would be amazed at what Snoop Dogg is today. In 2014, he claimed to be a vegan (and confirmed it in a 2020 interview with Forbes) — and in 2018, he performed at an event that was sponsored by Beyond Meat. Subsequently, he became an ambassador for the brand. He’s also invested in the company Original Foods, which makes Pigless Pork Rinds.
Like many other moguls, Snoop Dogg has made some money in real estate. In 2007, he sold his Claremont, CA mansion for $1.83 million. According to Berg Properties, this home was featured in Snoop Dogg’s episode of “MTV Cribs.”
He also owns a home in Diamond Bar, CA. According to Redfin, as of this writing, the property is worth more than $3 million.
In August 2020, Snoop Dogg said that he was looking to invest in real estate in Atlantic City, NJ.