Snoop Dogg has been threatened with a lawsuit after mocking a gay man online who received a torrent of homophobic abuse from his fans.

The US rapper Sunday (4 January) posted a photo of carer Cortez Booze on Instagram with the caption, ‘Whose auntcle is this?’

The post has received more than 40,000 like and dozens of comments branding the carer a ‘faggot,’ ‘shemale,’ ‘confused,’ ‘ugly’ and a ‘punk.’

Booze from Edgewater, Maryland told TMZ that he reported the picture to Instagram but it had not been taken down. He has hired a lawyer and is preparing a lawsuit against the rapper.

However, some users noted that Booze looks ironically similar to the rapper.

‘That kinda looks like snoop dogg,’ one wrote.

In September, Snoop Dogg posted and then deleted an anti-gay slur on his Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The rapper posted a screen capture of another user with the comment, ‘U n ya boyfriend since u like Jumpn on my page disrespectn bitch boy go suck ya man n get off my line f. A. G.’