It seems as though Gayle King hasn’t been on many’s good sides following her interview with Lisa Leslie. In the interview, King asks Leslie about the 2003 rape case of Kobe Bryant, which sparked a lot of controversies.
Some viewers found King’s questions to be bad timing and disrespectful to the legacy that the former NBA player has left behind. On, Today with Hoda and Jenna, Oprah Winfrey shares that since the interview was released, King has not been “doing well.”
“She has now death threats and has to now travel with security and she’s feeling very much attacked,” Winfrey began. “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. 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 by adding, “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.”
Not only has fans of the show shown their anger towards the CBS host, but celebrities have has their share of words as well. West Coast rapper, Snoop Dogg was one of the public figures that harshly spoke about the news clip, telling King to “respect the family before we come and get you.”
Susan Zirinsky, President of CBS News made a statement in King’s defense. “We fully support Gayle King and her integrity as a journalist,” she began. “We find the threats against her or any journalist doing their job reprehensible. The interview with Lisa Leslie was comprehensive and thoughtful. We are a country where differences of opinion are welcome, but hateful and dangerous threats are completely unacceptable.”
Snoop Dogg has recently made another video, clarifying his statement after telling fans that he is a “non-violent person.”
“When I said what I said, I spoke for the people who felt like Gayle was very disrespectful towards Kobe Bryant and his family. Now with that being said, What I look like wanting some harm to come to a 70-year-old woman? I was raised way better than that. I didn’t want no harm to come to her and I didn’t threaten her. All I did was say, ‘Listen, you’re outta pocket and we’re watching you.’”
The post CBS News Speaks Out in Defense of Gayle King appeared first on The Source.
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