*#IstandWithGayle is trending on Twitter after Gayle King receives death threats for asking about Kobe Bryant’s 2003 rape case during an interview with WNBA star Lisa Leslie last week.
Bryant was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old hotel employee in Colorado in 2003. He was charged with rape, but the case was dropped after the accuser declined to testify. She filed a civil suit that was later settled.
In a clip of the “CBS This Morning” interview posted on social media Tuesday, King asks Leslie if she thinks Bryant’s legacy is “complicated” by the sexual assault charge.
“It’s been said that his legacy is complicated because of a sexual assault charge,” King said in the interview, published Tuesday. “Is it complicated for you as a woman, as a WNBA player?”
“It’s not complicated for me at all,” Leslie replied. “I just never have ever seen him being the kind of person that would do something to violate a woman or be aggressive in that way. That was just never the person that I know.”
King followed-up with: “But Lisa, you wouldn’t see it, though,” she said. “As his friend, you wouldn’t see it.”
“And that’s possible,” replied Leslie. “I just don’t believe that.”
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Essence Essayist Says ‘We Don’t Need to Destroy Gayle King to Preserve Kobe Bryant’s Legacy’
.@WNBA legend @LisaLeslie told @GayleKing that Kobe Bryant’s legacy is “not complicated” for her despite his 2003 rape accusation.
“I don’t think it’s something that we should keep hanging over his legacy.” https://t.co/qj6MVvOaqX pic.twitter.com/9qtVORobLO
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) February 4, 2020
Many criticized King, including rapper Snoop Dogg, who told her to “respect the family and back off b****, before we come get you.”
Following the criticism, King explained her side of the story in a video she shared on social media.
“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,” King said in an Instagram video in response to the criticism. “I am mortified. I am embarrassed and I am very angry.”
She added, “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. It’s jarring to me. I didn’t even know anything about it. I started getting calls. … I didn’t know what people were talking about.”
Additionally, King’s longtime gal pal Oprah Winfrey revealed on the ‘Today” show that King “is not doing well,” and has received “death threats” following the interview with Leslie.
On Monday, the hashtags #IStandWithGayle and #IstandWithSnoop began to trend.
“As journalists, we often have to ask tough and uncomfortable questions. It’s within your right to disagree. What’s not okay is to threaten anyone with vile, hate-filled language and death threats. #IStandWithGayle, @GayleKing,” wrote Twitter user Janelle Burrell, an anchor for CBS News Philadelphia, per Newsweek.
As journalists, we often have to ask tough and uncomfortable questions. It’s within your right to disagree. What’s not okay is to threaten anyone with vile, hate-filled language and death threats. #IStandWithGayle @GayleKing
— Janelle Burrell (@BurrellTV) February 8, 2020
“2 be clear #IStandWithGayle it’s not all right to threaten @GayleKing or anybody because u don’t agree with them. The comments & videos being played r not ok. But it’s not too late to make a different choice,” wrote Erika Alexander, former actress on The Cosby Show.
User TorraineWalker also noted, “You got #IStandWithGayle on one side, #IStandWithSnoop on the other, and everybody’s so busy setting up their soapboxes and thinkpieces they forgot about Kobe & Gigi. I’ve been a part of it too and after this I’ll keep it movin’. #IStandWithVanessaBryant”
2 b clear #IStandWithGayle it’s not all right to threaten @GayleKing or anybody bcause u don’t agree w them. The comments & videos being played r not ok. But It’s not 2 late to make a different choice. So make a different choice. Xo. e. #lovetakesaction #standwithblackwomen
— Erika Alexander (@EAlexTheGreat) February 10, 2020
“I stand with @GayleKing and a disgusted that @CBS would edit a long-ranging interview to make her come across as insensitive and brutal. Ms. King is one of the few journalists left with integrity and fact-based reporting. Shame on CBS #IStandWithGayle,” Twitter user Lisa wrote.
I stand with @GayleKing and a disgusted that @CBS would edit a long-ranging interview to make her come across as insensitive and brutal. Ms. King is one of the few journalists left with integrity and fact-based reporting. Shame on CBS. #IStandWithGayle
— Lisa ? (@lisa_habig) February 8, 2020
“#IStandWithGayle CBS took an isolated section out of Gayle’s wide-ranging interview with Lisa Leslie and posted it, out of context. I have mad respect for Gayle, her honesty, integrity & talent,” Twitter user Brad Bessey wrote.
#IStandWithGayle CBS took an isolated section out of Gayle’s wide-ranging interview with Lisa Leslie & posted it, out of context. I have mad respect for Gayle, her honesty, integrity & talent. Gayle addresses the criticism honestly & directly in this post. Please listen. https://t.co/rXiOzRAnMG
— Brad Bessey (@BradBessey) February 7, 2020
“This is despicable. Gayle King is one of the most principled, fair and tough journalists alive. Snoop, back the **** off. You come for @GayleKing, you come against an army. You will lose and it won’t be pretty,” wrote Susan Rice, a National Security Advisor and United Nations Ambassador.
#IStandWithGayle CBS took an isolated section out of Gayle’s wide-ranging interview with Lisa Leslie & posted it, out of context. I have mad respect for Gayle, her honesty, integrity & talent. Gayle addresses the criticism honestly & directly in this post. Please listen. https://t.co/rXiOzRAnMG
— Brad Bessey (@BradBessey) February 7, 2020
Snoop Dogg has also been hit with criticism for threatening King. He responded to the controversy in a video, saying: “I’m a non-violent person. When I said what I said, I spoke for the people who felt like Gayle was very disrespectful to Kobe Bryant and his family. Now with that being said, what I look like wanting harm to come to a 70-year-old woman, I was raised way better than that.”
He added, “I didn’t want no harm to come to her, I didn’t threaten her. All I did was say, check it out, you out of pocket for what you doing.”
