Snoop Dogg Walks Back Perceived Gayle King Threat

The CBS News chief called threats against journalist Gayle King “reprehensible” Saturday as backlash grew against rapper Snoop Dogg and others critical of King for an interview where she asked about a sexual assault charge against the late Kobe Bryant, The Associated Press reports.

Snoop Dogg issued a warning to King online this week following her interview with WNBA player Lisa Leslie about Bryant, the former Los Angeles Lakers star killed in a helicopter crash with his young daughter and seven others on Jan. 26.

“We fully support Gayle King and her integrity as a journalist,” CBS News President Susan Zirinsky told The Associated Press. “We find the threats against her or any journalist doing their job reprehensible.”

CBS would not discuss the nature of any private threats against King. Her friend, Oprah Winfrey, said in an NBC interview that King had received death threats and was traveling with security.

Susan Zirinsky

The rapper had joined with others, including LeBron James, 50 Cent and even Bill Cosby, in criticizing King for asking Leslie whether Bryant’s legacy had been complicated by the accusation that he raped a woman at a Colorado resort in 2003. Bryant said the two had consensual sex, but he later apologized for his behavior and settled a civil suit against him.

In a profane video posted on Instagram and shared on other social media platforms, Snoop Dogg criticized King for attacking “your people.” He told her to “back off ... before we come get you.”

Meanwhile, The NYPost reports Snoop Dogg isn’t looking for a fight with Gayle King.

The rapper took to Instagram Saturday to make that clear after calling out the CBS correspondent for mentioning late basketball star Kobe Bryant’s 2003 rape case.

“I’m a non-violent person,” Snoop says in the video. “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,“ he continued, “what I look like wanting some harm to come to a 70-year-old woman? I was raised way better than that. I don’t want no harm to come to her and I didn’t threaten her, all I did was said, ‘check it out, you outta pocket for what you doing and we watching you. Have a little more respect for Vanessa, her babies and Kobe Bryant’s legacy.’”

King’s questions had attracted little notice as part of a wide-ranging interview shown on “CBS This Morning.” But then CBS — mistakenly, it said later — posted a video online that focused strictly on the discussion about the assault case.