Gayle King’s interview with WNBA legend Lisa Leslie resulted in a variety of emotions for countless people. Some were angry the veteran journalist had the nerve to bring up Kobe Bryant’s 2003 sexual assault case considering the NBA superstar had just died, while others felt King was completely justified and fair in her questioning.
Snoop Dogg, however, wasn’t one of them. He condemned both King and Oprah Winfrey, who has been under scrutiny for her connection to a documentary about one of Russell Simmons’ sexual assault accusers. And he wasn’t alone. 50 Cent also questioned King’s motives, saying, “I don’t understand what the goal is.”
On Monday (February 9), the Def Jam Recordings co-founder thanked those who stood up for Bryant.
“A very sincere THANK YOU for ALL of those who spoke up to defend our brother,” he wrote alongside a clip of himself with the former L.A. Laker. “Let’s not allow any more negativity into our bubble of love. This man represented the very best of we have to offer. He was a tremendous athlete and a flourishing artist, producer and business man.
“He exuded happiness and was full of compassion. Most importantly, he was a loving family man, and a ROLE MODEL for black men all over the world. God bless the legacy of @kobebryant. Prayers for the Bryant family and all those who lost their lives in this tragic accident.”
Controversy ensued when CBS This Morning aired a clip of King’s recent interview with Leslie in which King asked the seasoned athlete if Bryant’s sexual assault case makes his legacy “complicated” for her.
“It’s not complicated for me,” Leslie said. She later added. “I don’t think it’s something that we should keep hanging over his legacy.”
King was livid and insisted CBS essentially threw her under the bus.
“I know that if I had only seen the clip that you saw, I’d be extremely angry with me too,” King said. “I am mortified. I am embarrassed and I am very angry. Unbeknownst to me, my network put up a clip from a very wide-ranging interview — totally taken out of context — and when you see it that way, it’s very jarring. It’s jarring to me. I didn’t even know anything about it.”
Snoop — who received some strong words from former U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice — has since denied threatening King in any way, shape or form.
“Here’s a message for the people that need to know,” he said. “I’m a non-violent person. When I said what I said, I spoke for the people who felt like Gayle was very disrespectful towards Kobe Bryant and his family. Now with that being said, what’d I look like want some harm to come to a 70-year-old woman? I was raised way better than that.”
He continued, “I didn’t want no harm to come to her, I didn’t threaten her. All I did was say check it out, you out of pocket for what you doing and we watching you. Have a little bit more respect for Vanessa, her babies and Kobe Bryant’s legacy.”
Simmons evidently feels similarly.
Man thanks for speaking up…gotta speak up when your gut tells you some shit ain’t right
or ya know when you are a rapist who wants to protect another rapist.
Bruh if you think someone is a rapist because they’re speaking up for men who’ve been disgraced unfairly, you are a str8 dumbass.
That reply was meant for…LOL
I got gangsta hoes Kobe Bryant scared to sodomize, And .45’s for them suckers y’all idolize
A line that’s outdated and of no relevance in the advent of Kobe’s passing. I love Nas. He’s my favourite rapper but even he hasn’t been spared of his fair share of controversy regarding the treatment of women. His divorce case with Kelis was marred allegations of abuse so no-one really is in a position to speak. I’m sure its part of the reason, he’s not saying anything now. Now is a time for reflection and spreading love.
That thottie Kobe smashed was just tryin for a come up anyway, ish was consensual
Idk bro she came from a rich family. And months of being publicly dragged and threatened in the media while your personal business becomes the world’s business seems like a lot to go through for 2.5 million (the most she could get from a settlement).
From what I’ve seen, heard and read so far, I’m under the impression that the majority of people are unhappy with Gayle for bringing the issue up in her interview. The underlying issue here has 2 factors: Media and Ethics. With the Media Industry we can say that the two have, to a certain extent, worked at cross purposes for a while now. Where they have coincided they have been aided by society’s desire, sometimes selfishly, to know more. Where they have been otherwise, they have occurred at the expense of people’s privacy and created moral issues. The existence of the last issue hasn’t stopped the big machine Gayle works for from profitting from people’s pain and suffering. In this case, the profit motive may have unexpectedly come at the expense of the journalist herself. If she is being genuine, that could be the reason why she feels like she is being hung out to dry by her network. In such an event, nothing is stopping her from taking legal action against the network but nothing to that effect has been done to date. On the other hand, we must remember that she is an intelligent woman who is experienced in her field. She may well have been carrying out the instructions of the people who own the media in furtherance of the profit motive I aluded to earlier. Either way, all of this is a classic reminder of the fact that even though society may revel in controversial, scandalous and immoral behaviour, there are limits to how far anyone can take it.
I think it was too soon for Gayle to ask that question. A lot of people are still in disbelief he actually died. But, at some point I think everyone has to rationalize what happened in their own way. It’s a part of his life and his legacy and we can’t ignore it. There’s plenty of evidence that suggests he did it, but there’s also plenty that suggests he didn’t. It was settled out of court and we’ll never know for sure. But, we know for sure that Kobe did some genuine good for people in his life for sure, so I guess we all just kind of have to live with not knowing. People will all make up their own minds on the subject.
I can understand those who are unhappy with Gayle’s line of questioning, but it didn’t warrant her being called out of her name, or being issued threats of any kind. Voice your displeasure and keep it moving. Funny though, where was this “energy” from Snoop for Wack 100 in regards to Nipsey?