Snoop Dogg may or may not have the munchies right now. Either way, he can’t stop raving about Martha Stewart’s fried chicken. “The juices just squirted!” he recalls in the new issue of Us Weekly. “Mmmm!” Sitting beside him in a suite at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills October 26, Stewart lets out a laugh. “Now I’m getting hungry!” she says. Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party captures that easy banter between the rapper/cannabis connoisseur, 45, and the domestic diva, 75.
Each week in front of a studio audience, the pair — friends for almost a decade — invite other famous pals (Seth Rogen, Ashley Graham, Bella Thorne) to help them cook a meal. Inevitably, the two also crack jokes about pot. (See: the title.) “This show,” says Stewart, “has been really fun for me.” She and Snoop serve up punch lines with Us’ deputy news editor Rachel Fourteau.
Us: Who on earth came up with this concept?
MS: Our agents were asked by VH1 if we’d be interested in combining our talents on a cooking show. But we came up with the idea of a dinner party.
SD: We was thinking about what’s not on television and what represents us.
Us: What kind of antics will we see on screen?
SD: I don’t drink, right? But Martha told people on the show we’re going to have a drink before we do everything. So Martha managed to get me tipsy!
MS: I actually didn’t know that he didn’t drink.
SD: How could I say no? If she poured this, that, I didn’t say no.
Us: If Martha drinks, does that mean you can smoke, Snoop?
SD: We only smoked the meat! [Laughs.]
MS: Oh, there’s absolutely no smoking on set.
SD: I didn’t mix business with pleasure. I had a trailer with the pleasures. It was always outside. On the set, I’m a businessman. Besides, I wanted to smell the beautiful perfume Martha had on every day.
Us: Martha, you’re known as a perfectionist. Do you dial it back with Snoop?
MS: Being a perfectionist is not an evil thing. And if you’re doing a recipe on national television, there’s really no room for being sloppy or a nonperfectionist.
Us: Snoop, has Martha upped your food game?
SD: Yes! Martha has taught me how to make a pizza, and I’m taking my skills to different people’s homes that have stoves for it.
MS: Pizza ovens?
SD: Yeah. My friend was like, “I don’t even know how to open it up!” And I was like, “Man, I want to come and break this thang in for you.”
MS: I got him a Big Green Egg. It’s a ceramic grill that gets to 950 degrees.
SD: I can make burgers!
Us: Martha, on a scale of 1 to 10, how are Snoop’s kitchen skills?
MS: Everything he made was an 8, 9 or 10. And it’s not all simple. He makes lobster thermidor!
SD: I got turned on to it in Australia. I fell in love with the taste and wanted to know how to create it.
MS: He didn’t like to handle live lobsters. He’s a little squeamish about some stuff. I gave him a pair of these beautiful stainless-steel mesh gloves.
SD: They were like Hannibal Lecter gloves.
Us: You met years ago on Martha’s old talk show. What did you instantly like about each other?
SD: I love Martha’s uniqueness and the way she teaches. I’ve always been a student, so I want to learn.
MS: Isn’t that nice? I just liked his demeanor: laid-back, intelligent, fun.
Us: You clearly formed a special bond.
SD: It’s like superheroes: Batman and Robin!
MS: Who’s Batman and who’s Robin?
SD: You know you Batman, Martha!
Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party premieres on VH1 Monday, November 7, at 10 p.m. ET.
