Gayle King accepts Snoop Dogg's apology for Kobe Bryant rant, says she understands the 'raw emotions' over 'tragic loss'

Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
Updated ·3 min read

Gayle King and Snoop Dogg have officially buried the hatchet.

After Snoop apologized for his profane diatribe against the CBS This Morning host for bringing up the late Kobe Bryant’s 2003 sexual assault case during a wide-ranging interview with Lisa Leslie, King has accepted and is ready to move on.

“I accept the apology and understand the raw emotions caused by this tragic loss,” the newswoman said in a statement to the Associated Press.

King continued, “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.”

Snoop was one of many who took issue with King’s line of questioning in her interview earlier this month with the WNBA legend, who was a close friend of Bryant’s from their early pro-basketball days. In that interview, King asked if the allegations against Bryant complicated his legacy, as well as other followup questions. (Bryant was charged with sexual assault in 2003, but his accuser ultimately refused to testify and the case was dismissed. The married Bryant publicly apologized to his accuser, saying, “Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did.” They later settled a civil lawsuit out of court.)

Reeling from the recent death of his longtime friend Bryant, who perished in a helicopter crash with his daughter and seven others, Snoop slammed King after a clip of the Leslie interview — showing only her questions pertaining to the sexual assault allegation against Bryant — was posted online by CBS. He accused King of trying to “tarnish” Bryant’s reputation. In the now-deleted, expletive-filled Instagram rant, Snoop warned, “Back off, b****, before we come get you.”

After facing criticism for his own comments, Snoop publicly apologized to King on Wednesday. "Two wrongs don't make no right. When you're wrong, you gotta fix it," he said. "I publicly tore you down by coming at you in a derogatory manner based off of emotions... me being angry at questions that you asked."

It turned out that even King — who got death threats over the drama — was upset the clip was posted as well. She slammed her own network, saying she was “very angry” with CBS for posting the “salacious” and “out of context” clip from “a very wide-ranging interview.” She described herself as “mortified” and “embarrassed” — and said she would be taking the issue up with network brass.

CBS sided with King, saying the excerpt “did not reflect the nature and tone of the full interview.” And that changes had already been made to the “internal process that led to this.”

Oprah Winfrey talked about how upset her best friend was over the whole thing, saying King was “not doing well.” Hopefully now it’s behind her.

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