50 Cent is one of a number of people criticizing Gayle King after the journalist asked former WNBA star Lisa Leslie about the rape allegations against Kobe Bryant. In an interview from AP News, the rapper admitted that he “didn’t see what the goal” of the entire line of questioning was, in addition to posting a video of himself watching the segment to Instagram on Wednesday.
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“It’s been said that his legacy is complicated, because of a sexual assault charge that was dismissed in 2003, 2004,” King tells Leslie in the interview.
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“It’s not complicated. You just said it was dismissed,” 50 Cent says. “Is it complicated for you, as a woman, as a WNBA player?” King asks Leslie, at which point 50 Cent says, “No.”
“It’s not complicated for me at all,” Leslie tells King. “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. That’s just not the person that I know.”
“But Lisa, you wouldn’t see it though,” King prompts. “As his friend, you wouldn’t see it.”
“Then how would you see it, Gayle?” 50 Cent comments. “How the f— would you see it, b—?”
“what is this, wait somebody gotta help me understand why they keep doing this,” the rapper wrote in his caption. “i apologize for my language in advance let’s talk about this.”
50 Cent says Gayle King’s questions went too far when she brought up past allegations against Kobe Bryant in an interview with former WNBA star Lisa Leslie.
King has since stated the questions were taken out of context when published in isolation by CBS: https://t.co/itlJOCMHFP pic.twitter.com/CkZiHuwQdJ
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) February 6, 2020
King addressed the interview in a video on Instagram on Thursday and said that she is “mortified,” “embarrassed” and “very angry” at CBS for sharing a clip that she writes was “totally taken out of context.”
“I’ve been up reading the comments about the interview I did with Lisa Leslie about Kobe Bryant, and I know that if I had only seen the clip that you saw, I’d be extremely angry with me too,” she 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.”
“Gayle conducted a thoughtful, wide-ranging interview with Lisa Leslie about the legacy of Kobe Bryant,” CBS News said in a statement to E! News. “An excerpt was posted that did not reflect the nature and tone of the full interview. We are addressing the internal process that led to this and changes have already been made.”
Bryant was accused of rape in 2003 by a 19-year-old hotel employee and the case was settled out of court after the woman, who filed a civil suit, refused to testify. Bryant admitted to a sexual encounter with the woman, but claimed it was consensual.
Photo Credit: Getty / Leon Bennett
