Fans of Kobe Bryant expressed outrage this week over Gayle King's interview with Lisa Leslie, during which the reporter probed the former WNBA star about Bryant's 2003 rape case. The latest critic to come out of the woodworks is Snoop Dogg, who unleashed a scathing diatribe against the CBS This Morning co-host on Thursday (Feb. 6).
"Gayle King..out of pocket for that sh–. Way out of pocket. What do you gain from that? I swear to God we the worst. We the f—ing worst," Snoop said in the clip, reposted on Twitter by 50 Cent.
"We expect more from you, Gail. Don't you hang out with Oprah? Why y'all attacking us? We your people. You ain't come after Harvey Weinstein asking them dumbass questions. I get sick of y'all. I wanna call you one. Is it OK if I call her one? Funky dog head b—h. How dare you try to tarnish my motherf—ing homeboy's reputation. Punk motherf—er. Respect the family and back off, b—h, before we come get you."
i apologize for his language in advance, to people who get distracted by words and miss the point. @SnoopDogg expressing how he feels about Gale & oprah funky Dog Face LOL #starzgettheapp #abcforlife #lecheminduroi #bransoncognac pic.twitter.com/2t2NDDHdsu
— 50cent (@50cent) February 6, 2020
Earlier in the day, King herself responded to criticism regarding her mentioning of Bryant's rape case in a video post, claiming that she was "mortified" and "embrassed" by the network's decision to choose that particular clip to promote her interview with Leslie.
"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," King said. "It's jarring to me. I didn't even know anything about it. I started getting calls, 'What the hell are you doing? Why did you say this? What is happening?' I did not know what people were talking about."
Gayle asked Leslie if Bryant's legacy is "complicated" because of his sexual assault charge. Leslie, a friend of Bryant's, explained why she believed the media shouldn't use this time to desecrate his reputation, especially after his death.
.@WNBA legend @LisaLeslie told @GayleKing that Kobe Bryant's legacy is "not complicated" for her despite his 2003 rape accusation.
"I don't think it's something that we should keep hanging over his legacy." https://t.co/qj6MVvOaqX pic.twitter.com/9qtVORobLO
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) February 4, 2020
"I think the media should be more respectful at this time. It's like if you had questions about it, you've had many years to ask him that."
In 2004, Bryant's case was dismissed due to the alleged victim's decision not to testify. Watch King's explantion for her questioning of Kobe's rape case below.