Gayle King found herself in a huge controversy yesterday after she interviewed Lisa Leslie about the legacy of Kobe Bryant. At one point in the interview, King asked Leslie about Kobe’s rape allegations and whether or not it affects his legacy. Leslie seemed to be surprised by the question and immediately brushed it off. King continued to press Leslie on the subject but eventually, the former WNBA player was able to put a stop to the questions by saying the Kobe she knew would never have done such a thing.
In the aftermath of the interview, King was roasted on social media as people began to accuse her of trying to disparage black men. Today, King responded to the comments with a lengthy video rant on Twitter. Throughout the video, King expresses anger with CBS and says everything was taken out of context.
“I know that if I had only seen the clip that you saw, I’d be extremely angry with me too. I am mortified. I am embarrassed and I am very angry,” King said. “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.”
King went on to say that she was simply giving Leslie a platform to defend her friend. King felt as though Leslie’s answer was very powerful and spoke for itself. Despite the explanation, fans are still giving King a hard time which isn’t surprising when you consider how this is the internet we’re talking about.
What do you think of King’s explanation?