Gayle King Said What?

Amid the passing of Kobe Bryant and eight others in a fatal helicopter crash on January 26, 2020, a brief interview clip published on February 6, 2020 featuring CBS Morning Anchor Gayle King and WNBA legend Lisa Leslie, has caused up a ruckus among the social media world. Within this interview, King brings up Bryant’s rape charges that were held against him in 2003. Back in 2003, this case caused a media frenzy, and also put a damper on Bryant’s athletic career. Bryant was accused of raping a 19-year-old-woman in a Colorado hotel where Bryant was staying awaiting knee surgery (Blynn, 2020). However, a year later, the case had never made its way to court and Bryant’s accuser had declined to testify in court; followed by requesting a public apology from Bryant (Daily Mail, 2020).

According to Daily Mail.com, King asked Leslie if Bryant’s legacy had become complicated because of the assault charges in 2003. With Leslie knowing Bryant since she was 18 years old (Daily Mail, 2020), Leslie quickly responded with no. Although, within the Twitter world, many celebrities and fans had taken to their own accounts to showcase their feelings about the comment King had made.

Images were taken from Daily Mail.com. Rapper 50 cent posted the clip below:

Followed by some fan accounts on twitter:

King has since taken to Instagram to issue an apology as she is “mortified” by the backlash she is now receiving. Below is the link to King’s Instagram response about the interview if you wish to view it. https://www.instagram.com/tv/B8OJfE7Jzri/?utm_source=ig_embed

Thank you

References

Daily Mail.com. (2020). Retrieved from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7979187/Oprah-says-best-friend-Gayle-King-received-death-threats.html