Snoop Dogg had some choice words for “CBS This Morning” host Gayle King after the surfacing of her interview with former WNBA star Lisa Leslie, which in part, revisited Kobe Bryant’s 2003 rape allegations. In a clip making its’ rounds on social media, the rapper called King a “funky dog head b*tch” and challenged what she gains from mentioning Bryant’s past.
“Gayle King, you out of pocket for that sh*t, way out of pocket,” Snoop said. “What do you gain from that? I swear to God, we the worst. We the f**king worst. We expect more from you Gayle. Don’t you hang out with Oprah? Why y’all attacking us? We your people! You ain’t come after f**king Harvey Weinstein asking them dumb a** questions.”
Snoop then advised King to “respect the family and back off” after accusing her of trying to “tarnish” his “mother f**king homeboy’s reputation.”
King, on the other hand, has responded to the massive backlash she has received surrounding her conversation with Leslie. “I know that if I had only seen the clip that you saw, I’d be extremely angry with me too,” she explained in video posted to social media. “I am mortified, I am embarrassed and I am very angry.”
The CBS morning show host said that “unbeknownst” to her, the network put up the one-and-a-half minute clip “from a very wide-ranging interview, totally taken out of context and when you see it that way, it’s very jarring.”
King added that she was advised not to say anything and to let it go, but “that’s not good enough” for her because “she really wants people to understand what happened” and how she is feeling about it.
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A
lot of Black people on Twitter are not happy with Gayle King.
The co-host of “CBS This Morning” interviewed WNBA champion Lisa Leslie about the life of Kobe Bryant, who died on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crashalong with his 12-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people.
The conversation between King and Leslie seemed to honor Bryant’s altruistic legacy. “He was really making change,” Leslie told King. “He was changing the mindsets of other men more than anybody else. He’s validating us, if you will, these young ladies who are out there playing, the fact that he’s enjoying and being entertained by great basketball.”
Despite Bryant’s legacy as a great basketball player and mentor, King also thought it was necessary to bring up the rape allegations against him. Back in 2003, Bryant was accused of raping a woman employed at the Cordillera Lodge and Spa in Edwards, Colorado. According to court documents, the 19-year-old woman suffered bruises on her neck, and blood was found in her underwear and on Bryant’s shirt.
Eventually, the criminal case was dismissed after the woman refused to testify.
However, the case went to civil court. In a statement after the criminal case was dropped, Bryant apologized to the young woman. “Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did,” he said. The civil lawsuit was eventually settled, although the details were not publicly released.
King asked Leslie if the rape allegations complicate Bryant’s legacy and Leslie said, “It’s not complicated for me at all.” Leslie then went on to claim that Kobe wasn’t that “kind of guy.”
“Even if there’s a few times that we’ve been at a club at the same time, Kobe’s not the kind of guy,” she said. “Never been, like, ‘Lis, go get that girl, or tell her, or send her this.’ I have other NBA friends that are like that. Kobe, he was never like that.” She further said that she never saw him “being the kind of person that would do something to violate a woman or be aggressive in that way. That’s just not the person that I know.”
King then pressed Leslie, saying that even though she might’ve never seen Kobe in that light because they were friends, the allegations against him could be possible. Leslie doubled down, saying “I just don’t believe that.”
People, especially Black men, were furious that King even brought up the rape allegations. “Gayle King had MANY years to ask Kobe Bryant about the whole sexual assault case from back in 2003/2004,” one user tweeted. “Too soon for that bullsh*t. Let the legend Rest In Peace. Smh.”
Some folks even dragged Oprah Winfrey into the conversation, who has been criticized for supporting the alleged sexual abuse victims of Michael Jackson and the alleged victims of Russell Simmons. “Gayle King really tryna push that sex offender narrative on Kobe while he is no longer here to defend himself,” one user tweeted. “Lol she and Oprah will NEVER pass up the opportunity to tarnish a black man’s name… Why the fu** she ain’t interviewing ppl about Harvey Weinstein? Lol”
Now granted, Oprah has spoken up about Harvey Weinstein, calling the alleged victims stories a “watershed moment” on CBS This Morning. Back in 2018, she also interviewed Salma Hayek who detailed her alleged abuse from Weinstein. Not to mention, a full documentary interviewing Weinstein’s alleged victims called “Untouchable” was released in 2019. So the critiques that Weinstein isn’t getting enough coverage has many holes in it. He’s also currently in a much-publicized trial surrounding sexual assault allegations against him in New York.
But despite these instances, and the fact that Oprah has always said it’s more about supporting the victims than bringing down the alleged abusers, the Internet still had strong reactions to Gayle’s questions and Oprah’s supposed “agenda” against Black men. Check out some of the commentary below.
Newsone.com