Small Italian Restaurant Covers Snoop Dogg's Dinner After Payment Glitch — He Thanks Them With Five Olympic Final Tickets

A dinner glitch turned into a golden Olympic moment for one Italian family.

At the recently concluded 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, NBC special correspondent and rapper Snoop Dogg surprised a small restaurant family after his credit card failed during a takeout order.

The incident took place at Cronox in the alpine town of Livigno, where he ordered a cheeseburger, chicken wings, chicken nuggets and French fries for takeout, the restaurant owner’s daughter Sofia Valmadre, told NBC.

“He sent his staff to take it and pay, but they couldn’t pay. I don’t know why, it wasn’t going,” Valmadre said. “So my mother told him that it was okay [to take the food] without paying. Today, he sent us five tickets to see the final.”

The tickets were for the men’s snowboard halfpipe final, according to NBC.

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Team USA named Snoop Dogg its first-ever honorary coach in December.

He spent time with athletes including figure skater Ilia Malinin and speed skater Jordan Stolz. He was also in the stands early last month when alpine skier Lindsey Vonn crashed during her event, according to People.

Former Olympic snowboarder Shaun White gave him a snowboarding lesson, People reported. Snoop Dogg compared snowboarding to surfing and joked that he does not know how to surf. He fell several times before finding his balance.

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Snoop Dogg also tried bobsledding and curling. At one point, he rode down a hill in a plastic trash can.

“That was my first time ever doing something like that on ice, and I was courageous enough to try it. And let me tell you, I’d do it again and again and again. I had fun. That was super fun,” he recently told the “Today” show.

“I would never do bobsledding again,” Snoop Dogg said. “That’s just not me. I look good in there, but I’m not going down that hill. I had a good time.”

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Away from competition, he met actor Stanley Tucci at a bar, where Tucci sipped a martini and Snoop Dogg ordered gin and juice.

“I am the love vessel right now, and I love that I am the peace messenger,” Snoop Dogg said on the “Today” show from Milan.

“That’s what the Olympics is about,” Snoop Dogg said. “It’s about bringing the world together to celebrate sports and unity, and I’m glad to be at the forefront of it all, because this is what I love doing. I love putting smiles on people’s faces.”

Just as small moments can turn into lasting memories, thoughtful planning can shape long-term outcomes.

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