Snoop Dogg continues to clarify his intentions for making verbal threats to Gayle King following the journalist’s recent interview with basketball legend Lisa Leslie, in which she brought up the late Kobe Bryant‘s past sexual assault case.
Although many found King’s question in poor taste, the rapper’s harsh response to it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and sparked a larger debate about the way Black men and women treat each other. In a new clip from his upcoming appearance on Jada Pinkett Smith‘s Red Table Talk show on Facebook Watch, Snoop insists his knee-jerk reaction was about showing respect to grieving widow Vanessa Bryant.
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The 48-year-old had previously called King, 65, “out of pocket” for trying to “tarnish my motherf**king homeboy’s reputation” when she asked if Bryant’s legacy had been marred by the 2003 rape accusation. In conversation with Pinkett Smith and co-hosts Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris, he explained:
“I wanted to make sure that what I said was said the right way. And I wanted to make sure that the message was across that we love Kobe and be respectful of Vanessa and those kids.”
The entertainer continued:
“That’s what the whole intent was: To protect that woman and them babies over there because she’s still grieving and let’s give them that respect.”
This tracks well with his initial response to the CBS interview, except he used much less aggressive language than he did the first time around. As we reported, Snoop called King a “funky, dog-haired bitch” for suggesting the LA Lakers star had a “complicated” legacy and attacking him merely days after his reported death.
Snoop Dogg’s words sparked a firestorm of threats towards the reporter and he later apologized in an Instagram post stating that he “overreacted.”
“Two wrongs don’t make no right. When you’re wrong, you gotta fix it. Gayle King, I publicly tore you down by coming at you in a derogatory manner based off of emotions, being angry at questions that you asked. I would like to apologize to you publicly for the language that I used and calling you out of your name and just being disrespectful.”
He added his intention was to express himself “for a friend that wasn’t here to defend himself.”
King then accepted his apology via a statement to AP where she admitted:
“I accept the apology and understand the raw emotions caused by this tragic loss. As a journalist, it is sometimes challenging to balance doing my job with the emotions and feelings during difficult times. I don’t always get it perfect but I’m constantly striving to do it with compassion and integrity.”
Despite the two making amends, it sounds like there’s still more to be discussed about the topic on Snoop’s upcoming RTT sit-down. Will Smith‘s wife made that clear in an already released excerpt where she tells him:
“When you first came out and you said what you said in regards to Gayle, my heart dropped. I felt like not only were you talking to Gayle, but you were talking to me. I was like, ‘Not Snoop.’ And so that’s one of the reasons why I felt like I really wanted to have this conversation with you in the spirit of healing.”
We can’t wait to hear what else is discussed at length when this episode airs on Wednesday, February 26 on Facebook Watch at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET.
[Image via Red Table Talk/Facebook]
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