Developments in the controversial Gayle King interview with Lisa Leslie are continuing to precipitate throughout social media and the world, as a whole, with new faces getting in on the action.
This past week, CBS network anchor, Gayle King interviewed WNBA legend Lisa Leslie on a variety of topics, but one stood out as egregiously inappropriate, given the amount of time that has passed. That topic was on the late Kobe Bryant and his alleged sexual assault of a female, which was ultimately dismissed.
Well, since then, many people have come out on social media to condemn King, including Snoop Dogg, LeBron James, and Bill Cosby, among a litany of other people.
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Upon hearing of the comments made by King, Snoop Dogg was instantly charged with emotion, going to social media and popping off a series of rants in a video directed at the CBS show host.
“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,” the rapper began. “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,” he concluded.
#SusanRice you're a rottweiler that destroyed African Nations. Instead of being on Twitter you should be in prison for human rights violations. Instead of threatening Rappers. Go Beg God for Mercy on your crippled soul.
— Rahel X (@Rahizzi) February 8, 2020
With many people retweeting the video, it began to go viral, which subsequently led hoards of people to lash out against King. So much so, that she has been receiving death threats and has required security to escort her around because of it, at least according to her best friend, Oprah.
The tide seems to be turning for King, though. Recently, other public figures and network executives have come out in her defense, not only admonishing the highly offensive and inappropriate comments made towards her, but also making a ‘threat’ of their own.
One person to ‘clap back’ at Snoop Dogg was the former national security advisor, Susan Rice, who tweeted back at the rapper with a warning. “This is despicable. Gayle King is one of the most principled, fair and tough journalists alive. Snoop, back the **** off. You come for @GayleKing, you come against an army. You will lose, and it won’t be pretty,” Rice said in her response.
On Saturday, CBS News President Susan Zirinsky made a statement claiming the remarks against King are ‘despicable’ and offering support to the journalist. “We fully support Gayle King and her integrity as a journalist. We find the threats against her or any journalist doing their job reprehensible,” Zirinksy said in the statement.
#SusanRice is one of those people who probably believes black men are filled with toxic masculinity, so she chose what she probably feels is a better model. pic.twitter.com/uiqoFRDNNT
— Dr Boyce Watkins (@drboycewatkins1) February 9, 2020
In the aftermath of his rant, Snoop Dogg has come out and issued a ‘semblance’ of an apology, claiming that he’s not a violent person and he never intended any harm to come King’s way. He also shared that he wasn’t threatening her but simply wants her to “have a little more respect for Vanessa, her babies and Kobe Bryant’s legacy”.
King, herself, has come out in defense of the interview, citing the clip in question that referred to Kobe Bryant was isolated from the rest of the segment, thus allowing for it to be taken out of context. She claimed if she saw just the clip and not the interview as a whole, ‘she would be made at her too’.
