Oprah says Gayle King feels 'attacked' after fallout from clip of her asking about Kobe Bryant's rape charge

Gayle King is "not doing well," Oprah Winfrey says, following the fallout over a clip of her asking about Kobe Bryant's rape charge during an interview with former WNBA star, Lisa Leslie.

Winfrey appeared on "TODAY with Hoda and Jenna" Friday where she was asked about King.

"She's not doing well, may I say she's not doing well," an emotional Winfrey said. "She has now death threats and has to now travel with security and she's feeling very much attacked."

"(She) feels that she was put in a really terrible position because that interview had already ran and in the context of the interview everyone seemed fine including Lisa Leslie and it was only because somebody at the network put up that clip," Winfrey said. "I can see how people would obviously be very upset if you thought Gayle was just trying to press to get an answer from Lisa Leslie."

Winfrey continued: "She hasn't slept in two days. I think anybody can criticize anything, but the misogynist vitriol and the attacking to the point where it is dangerous to be in the streets alone, because it's just the people attacking it's the other people who take that message and feel like they can do whatever they want to because of it."

The clip of King's interview, which was released by "CBS" and circulated on social media, struck a chord with Twitter users who criticized King for bringing up the subject so soon after the former NBA player's death. King says the clip was taken out of context.

CBS responded in a statement Thursday night obtained by Deadline and Fox.

"Gayle conducted a thoughtful, wide-ranging interview with Lisa Leslie about the legacy of Kobe Bryant. 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,” the statement read.

USA TODAY has reached out to CBS for comment.

Gayle King 'very angry,' calls out CBS over clip of her asking about Kobe Bryant's rape charge

In a two-part video posted to Twitter Thursday, the "CBS This Morning" host discussed the controversy.

"If I had only seen the clip that you saw, I would 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," she explained.

She said that she was "advised to say nothing," but that wasn't "good enough for (her)."

"I wanted to get Lisa's take on it as a friend who knew him well. What she thought, where that would stand," she said. "It was very powerful when she looked me in the eye, as a member of the media, to say it's time for the media to leave that alone and back off. During the course of the interview, I asked follow-up questions because I wanted to make sure her position and perspective were very clear."

King was also noticeably missing from Friday's "CBS This Morning" broadcast, and Jericka Duncan sat in her place.

A few viewers took notice of King's absence and wondered on Twitter where the host was, asking if she's "been decommissioned already."

Winfrey, who said she spoke to King Friday morning, said her friend is traveling with security after receiving death threats.

The criminal case against Bryant was dropped on Sept. 1, 2004, after the accuser declined to testify. In August of that year, the woman filed a civil lawsuit, which was settled out of court on March 2, 2005.

Bryant died on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash along with eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.

Among King's critics was rapper 50 Cent.

"What is this, wait somebody gotta help me understand why they keep doing this," he wrote, along with a clip from the interview. "i apologize for my language in advance let’s talk about this."

Over the clip, the rapper can be heard saying, "That's not complicated. You just said it was dismissed... Then how would you see it, Gayle? How the (expletive) would you see it, (expletive)?"

More: Sharon Osbourne says Gayle King interview was 'great piece'

Contributing: Charles Trepany

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kobe Bryant: Gayle King 'not doing well' after CBS clip, Oprah says