Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

New Jersey man fools celebs as Snoop Dogg impersonator

Clementon's Lawrence Johnson isn't Snoop Dogg, but Brian McKnight sure thought he was.

Snoop Lion (nee Dogg) look-alike Lawrence Johnson (right) fooled singer Brian McKnight at the BET Awards last month.
Snoop Lion (nee Dogg) look-alike Lawrence Johnson (right) fooled singer Brian McKnight at the BET Awards last month.Read more

THIS YEAR'S BET Awards were the first time the general public could purchase tickets for the event, so Clementon, N.J.'s Lawrence Johnson decided to attend. Where's the news here? Johnson happens to look uncannily like Snoop Lion (formerly Snoop Dogg) and proceeded to fool a couple of celebs into believing he was the "Gin and Juice" rapper.

The owner of Bermuda Pools and Spas has been impersonating Snoop for about three years, and even performs as a look-alike. His policy is to neither confirm nor deny that he's actually Snoop ("nine times out of 10, people want a picture either way," Johnson said), so when R&B singer Brian McKnight and "The Wire" actor Andre Royo (Bubs!) approached Johnson and treated him like he was the real deal, he didn't deny. Royo even asked "Snoop" how his kid's football team was doing.

Snoop Lion attended the BET Awards, which took place June 30, with his family in tow. I would have killed to see a meeting of the two. So would Johnson, who was disappointed he didn't get to meet his doppelganger.

'Love'-lorn

Jo Piazza believed the hype: that she, a Yardley native and Penn grad, would move out of New York and find the man of her dreams. "I think believing myth made it harder to date: 'I'm going to walk into Pub and Kitchen, and the first man I see will think I'm amazing.' And that just made me kind of a douche."

Piazza, who penned a piece in the New York Post about her awful Philly dating experiences, says the tragic dates - fueled in part by her self-described douchiness - were the inspiration for her recent novel, Love Rehab: A Novel in Twelve Steps, a romantic comedy about a woman who starts a rehab for the heartbroken.

"I didn't meet my soul mate in Philadelphia, but I met an amazing character for my book," Piazza said, referencing a political consultant who said he was into her because she had brown hair and a vagina.

One of the strongest points of the novel is Piazza's integration of technology into the fabric of the plot. Would "When Harry Met Sally . . . " have been different if Billy Crystal could Facebook-stalk Meg Ryan? Of course it would. "[Exes] will forever exist in your laptop or on your phone. There's no way to chop off the limb that is hurting you. That's what drives women so crazy," said Piazza, the executive news director of In Touch Weekly and Life & Style magazines. "You can stalk someone in real time online, and that's more dangerous than stalking someone in person."

Beyond the Barnes

Kimberly Camp, former president and CEO of the Barnes Foundation, is opening her own gallery in Collingswood. Galerie Marie (709 Haddon Ave., 856-858-0527) will open for regular business hours on Sunday.

Camp ruled the Barnes from 1998 to 2005 while it was still at its Merion location. All the while she was an artist in her own right, painting and making dolls. The gallery, named after her mother, will feature her own work and the work of 15 to 20 other artists.

Camp has also written a book, Defending the Dead: The Totally True Story About the Barnes Foundation Transformation, a tell-all about her time at the Barnes. Her agent is shopping the manuscript, and she hopes to have a publication date by the end of the summer.

Q-rating

Quest, the city's LGBTQ film festival, kicks off tonight with a screening of "G.B.F." (a/k/a gay best friend). To fete the beginning of the 19th fest, it will host a bitchin' prom tonight at Lit UltraBar (460 N. 2nd St.) featuring drag-queen extraordinaire Brittany Lynn and stars from "G.B.F." Paul Iacono, Xosha Roquemore and Taylor Frey. It's $25 for the party, $40 for the flick, too (playing at Ritz Five at 7:15 p.m.).

Email: eichelm@phillynews.com

Twitter: @PhillyGossipDN

Online: ph.ly/DNGossip