Snoop Dogg Apologizes to Gayle King Over Kobe Bryant Comments

(Getty Images)

Snoop Dogg has offered an apology to Gayle King -- and wants to "sit down and talk privately" after coming at her with derogatory comments. 

The rapper shared his apology to King on Instagram on Wednesday, about a week after he posted a profanity-filled attack on the CBS anchor for her interview with Kobe Bryant's longtime friend, Lisa Leslie. Backlash against King erupted after a clip was posted online featuring King asking Leslie about the 2003 rape charge and subsequent criminal case against Bryant.  

Recommended Videos



On Wednesday, Snoop said, "Two wrongs don't make no right. When you're wrong, you gotta fix it."

"With that being said, Gayle King, I publicly tore you down by coming at you in a derogatory manner based off of emotions... me being angry at questions that you asked. [I] overreacted," he continued. "Should have handled it way different than that. I was raised way better than that. 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."

"I didn't mean for it to be like that. I was just expressing myself for a friend that wasn't here to defend himself," Snoop continued. "A lot of people look up to me and they love me and they appreciate me, so I want to let them know that anytime you mess up, it's okay to fix it, it's okay to man up and say that you're wrong. I apologize. Hopefully we can sit down and talk privately. Have a good day."

Snoop captioned his post: "Had a talk with my momma thank u mamma 💕🌹 2 wrongs don’t make it right time to heal 🙏🏽💙 @gayleking Peace ☮️ n love Praying for u and your family as well as Vanessa and the kids 🙏🏽✨🌹."

King responded to the backlash against the clip last week, sharing on Instagram, "I know that if I'd only seen the clip you saw, I'd be extremely angry with me too. I am mortified. I'm embarrassed, and I'm very angry." She said the clip was taken "out of context" from what she said was a "wide-ranging" interview. 

When Bryant was 24 years old, he was charged with one count of felony assault after a then-19-year-old woman went to the police about a 2003 alleged sexual assault in the player’s Colorado hotel room. The criminal case against Bryant was dropped in 2004, after the accuser declined to testify. The same woman also filed a civil lawsuit, which was settled out of court in 2005. 

"I wanted to get Lisa's take on it as a friend who knew him well, what she thought. Where that should stand," King explained on Instagram last week. "And I thought it was very powerful when she looked me in the eye, as a member of the media, to say it's time for the media to leave it alone and to back off. During the course of the interview, I asked follow-up questions because I wanted to make sure her position and perspective were very clear."

A spokesperson for CBS News said in a statement to ET at the time: "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."

King's friend, Oprah Winfrey, tearfully told the Today show last Friday that King had been receiving death threats and was "not doing well."

Soon after, the hashtag "#IStandWithGayle" was created on Twitter to defend King. See more in the video below. 

RELATED CONTENT: 

Gayle King Gets Support From Celebs and Journalists With '#IStandWithGayle' Hashtag

Katie Couric Reacts to the Gayle King Controversy

Oprah Winfrey Cries Over Gayle King's Kobe Bryant Interview Backlash: 'She Is Not Doing Well'