Gayle King has accepted Snoop Dogg’s apology after he dragged her for questioning Kobe Bryant’s longtime friend Lisa Leslie about his 2003 sexual assault case.
Last week, King faced fiery backlash from Kobe supporters and celebs, including 50 Cent and Snoop. The rappers and other critics called the 65-year-old journalist sexist and colorist insults and attacked her best friend #OprahWinfrey. However, on Wednesday, the West Coast rapper issued an apology via Instagram, saying 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. So 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 that he “didn’t mean it for it to be like that.”⠀⠀⠀⠀
Understanding the emotional impact of the interview, Gayle responded to Snoop, saying she accepts his apology. “I accept the apology and understand the raw emotions caused by this tragic loss,” King said in a statement to the Associated Press. She also mentioned that it’s not always easy taking on tough stories as a journalist, saying “as a journalist, it is sometimes challenging to balance doing my job with the emotions and feelings during difficult times.” She added, “I don’t always get it perfect, but I’m constantly striving to do it with compassion and integrity.”⠀⠀
Last week, King spoke out to those who had negative comments about the interview. The journalist said it was the fault of CBS who clipped the sexual assault portion of the interview, forcing the public to take it “out of context.” In a statement to PEOPLE, a CBS News spokesperson said, “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.”
