Kobe Bryant: Snoop Dogg Explains His Livid Reaction to Gayle King’s Controversial Interview

As you’ll likely recall, Gayle King‘s interview with Lisa Leslie about Kobe Bryant drew fire from those online after she brought up the 2003 sexual assault allegations against the late Laker, who died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. Snoop Dogg was one of the biggest critics of the interview and even posted multiple messages on social media about it. Now, days after he originally made the comments, Snoop Dogg doubled down on his statements and explained exactly why he felt the need to speak out.

On Feb. 7, Snoop Dogg called into the Rickey Smiley Morning Show where the topic naturally turned to Bryant. The rapper revealed that he was friends with Bryant for about sixteen or seventeen years and that he has, understandably, taken the news of the athlete’s death hard. Considering this, it’s not surprising to hear that Snoop Dogg is sticking by his previous critique against King’s line of questioning.

“I just think that wasn’t even necessary,” he said when asked about the interview. “You got Lisa Leslie, an all-star, a great player and Olympic gold medalist who actually grew with Kobe.”

“So it’s like it’s certain people that just wasn’t like that so in Lisa’s mind, she feel like, ‘Why you keep asking the question when the case was dismissed?’” Snoop Dogg continued. “He wasn’t even guilty. So if it was that serious, and no disrespect to the victim, but if it was that serious—if you did that to me—I’m getting on the witness stand and I’m coming forth to make sure you go do some time. Period!” (Bryant was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in Colorado in 2003, the case was later dismissed, according to the New York Times. The woman who accused Bryant later settled with the athlete for an undisclosed amount.)

“My thing was… that was 2003. Some of his kids wasn’t even born,” the rapper added. “So, when you brining that up you bringing information to them that they don’t need to know nothing about, you get what I’m saying? I’m thinking about them.” He also took issue with King’s response to the outrage, which he called a “weak-a— apology.”

Following the release of King’s interview with Leslie, which aired on Feb. 4, Snoop Dogg took to Instagram to share what he thought about it.

“Let the family mourn in peace,” he captioned one video.

In another post, he brought up King’s good friend, Oprah Winfrey, who’s spiritual healer was sentenced to 19 years for sex crimes.

“We waiting,” he wrote, captioning a screenshot of Winfrey with the healer. “When. Or is it only blacks that y’all wanna interview and try and tarnish they reputation over accusations f— both you h— on behalf of the whole hood u b—s not with us.”

He later also brought up Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual abuse by multiple women, and wondered why King hasn’t spoken out about him. “We waiting Gayle,” he wrote. “When is that interview gonna air.”

Snoop Dogg’s comments served as a response to King’s interview with Leslie, which saw the reporter ask whether the rape allegations tarnished Bryant’s legacy. After experiencing backlash from the interview, King released a statement regarding the matter.

“I’ve been up reading the comments about the interview I did with Lisa Leslie about Kobe Bryant,” King began on Instagram. “I know that if I had only seen the clip that you saw, I’d be extremely angry with me too. 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,” King continued. “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.”