I will admit there is a very long list of celebs I’m afraid of. Sometimes I have dreams I meet them in real life and tell them what I’ve said about them, and then the dream normally ends with me in a puddle of my own blood and or tears. But I think of ALL the celebs I’m afraid of, Snoop Dogg and Russell Crowe are definitely in the top five. Put the two together… well I’d just give them whatever the hell they wanted.

Snoop has been denied a travel and work visa for Australia, thus preventing him from going on tour there. He’s also been banned from the U.K. While he has a long rap sheet with some super serious (older) offenses on it, the current bannings come mostly from his drug possession/use.

Crowe wrote a truly impassioned letter on behalf of his friend Snoop, reassuring the Australian government that he posed no threat to anyone and asking them to reconsider.

The rapper, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, has several criminal convictions for drug and weapons offences and was banned from Australia last year by then-Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews.

But Crowe, who has been friends with Snoop for three years, said the musician deserved to be allowed to perform here later this year. “I submit to you that Snoop Dogg poses no threat to Australia or to any individual in this country,” Crowe wrote. “He has toured here three times before without incident and there are no reasons to assume this tour will be anything but the positive experience the last three have been… Snoop has built a stellar reputation with promoters and audiences worldwide.”

Crowe also cited the rapper’s extensive charity work and said Snoop had pledged to make an appearance at a charity event organised by South Sydney Rugby League Club. “Some of our First Grade players will attend with him and he will deliver a powerful and positive message about rising through adversity, drawing on his own underprivileged background as an example,” Crowe wrote. “As you can imagine, such a visit will have a phenomenal effect.”

[From News.com.au via ONTD]

You can read the letter in its entirety here. My first thought was, “I’m not sure I’d want some actor with a legendarily explosive temper writing my character defense.” But Crowe’s letter is so eloquent, passionate, and well-written (I’m assuming ghost written, but who knows) that it really did change my mind. Of course I’ve sort of got a bleeding heart and would probably let Snoop in if he promised to only bring half his usual amount of marijuana, a quarter of his standard gun stash, and I’d be somewhat negotiable on his other vices. So I’m probably not the best judge of what a foreign government should do.

That said, I do like that in some ways the inability to get a travel visa seems to serve as more of a deterrent towards illegal behavior than legal trouble. Most celebs know they’ll never do any real time for most of their offenses due to good lawyering and overcrowded jails. But not being allowed into other countries costs them a lot of money and publicity, and that seems to be a pretty powerful incentive.

Here’s Snoop Dogg and his family at the 23rd Annual Cedars-Sinai Sports Spectacular Awards in Los Angeles on June 1st. Images thanks to PR Photos.