Snoop Dogg says his profanity-filled rant about Gayle King was all about “respect.”
In an upcoming interview on Red Table Talk, the rapper says he believes King crossed the line when she brought up Kobe Bryant’s 2003 sexual assault case in an interview just days after the NBA legend and eight others were killed in a January 26 helicopter crash.
“I wanted to make sure that the message was across that, ‘We love Kobe,’ and, ‘be respectful of Vanessa and those kids,’” Snoop tells Jada Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow and her mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, in a preview clip for his Wednesday, February 26 episode of the Facebook Watch series.
“That’s what the whole intent was, ‘protect that woman and them babies over there because she’s still grieving. Let’s give them that respect,’” the hip-hop star says about Kobe’s widow, Vanessa Bryant.
While the rapper insists his intention was to encourage King to show respect, her friends and fans might argue he was anything but respectful to the CBS This Morning co-anchor.
The controversy started when King sat down for an interview with Bryant’s good friend, former WNBA star Lisa Leslie. King said in the interview that Bryant’s legacy is “complicated,” because of his 2003 sexual assault case in Colorado. The Los Angeles Lakers legend reached an out-of-court settlement with his accuser and the case was dropped.
Leslie replied, “It’s not complicated for me at all… I just never see — have ever seen him being the kind of person that would be — do something to violate a woman or be aggressive in that way.”
Snoop and many of Bryant’s fans were furious about King’s question. In a video posted on Instagram, Snoop warned the newcaster to “back off b–ch, before we come get you.”
A short time later, King’s best friend Oprah Winfrey said the journalist was getting death threats.
The fallout from King’s interview took yet another turn when CBS News President Susan Zirinsky called the threats against the network’s star reporter “reprehensible.”
King’s friend, former national security adviser Susan Rice, then warned Snoop to “back the f–k off,” and the hashtag #IStandWithGayle began to trend on Twitter.
Snoop apologized to King on Feb. 12, saying he “overreacted,” and King said she accepts his apology.
Watch the Red Table Talk preview clip below. Snoop Dogg’s interview debuts Wednesday, February 26 on Facebook.