Gayle King got dragged on Twitter yesterday (February 5th) after asking WNBA star Lisa Leslie a question about Kobe Bryant's 2003 rape accusation. During the interview, which aired on CBS This Morning, Gayle asked Lisa, “It's been said that his legacy is complicated because of his sexual assault charge which was dismissed in 2003, 2004. Is it complicated for you as a woman, as a WNBA player?” Lisa: “”It’s not complicated for me at all…Even if there’s a few times that we’ve been at a club at the same time, Kobe’s not the kind of guy, never been, like, ‘Lis, go get that girl,’ or ‘tell her,’ or ‘send her this.’ I have other NBA friends that are like that. Kobe, he was never like that…I never saw him being the kind of person that would do something to violate a woman or be aggressive in that way. That’s just not the person that I know” Gayle: “But Lisa, you wouldn't see it though. As his friend, you wouldn't see it.” Lisa: “And that's possible. I just don’t believe that, and I’m not saying things didn’t happen. I just don’t believe that things didn’t happen with force.”
Gayle then asked, “Is it even a fair question to even talk about it considering he's no longer with us and it was resolved or is it really part of his history?” Lisa: “I think the media should be more respectful at this time…It’s like if you had questions about it, you had many years to ask him that. I don’t think it’s something that we should keep hanging over his legacy. It went to trial.” Gayle: “Yeah, it was dismissed because the victim in the case refused to testify. It was dismissed.” Lisa: “And I think that's where we should leave it.”
SOCIAL MEDIA RESPONDS
People responded to the interview immediately. One person wrote, “Lisa handled that interview like a PRO! Fck Gayle . . . and Oprah. I'm sick of both of them. Smh.” Another person tweeted, “Gayle King really tryna push that sex offender narrative on Kobe while he is no longer here to defend himself? Lol she and Oprah will NEVER pass up the opportunity to tarnish a black man's name . . . Why the f*ckj she ain't interviewing ppl about Harvey Weinstein? Lol.”
Celebs also chimed in. Vivica A. Fox wrote on Instagram, “Gayle REALLY?? SMDH! 😡😡🤯.” Actress Bresha Webb wrote via Instagram, “Thank you @lisaleslie for handling this with so much grace and elegance. My a** would’ve flipped the table. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾.”
GAYLE RESPONDS
One commenter caught Gayle's attention. The Twitter user, who goes by the name @BarryBondz, wrote, “you be ashamed of yourself for bringing that question up. It be our people to take us down. Now @GayleKing go interview Harvey Weinstein. Let me see that interview.” Gayle responded, “Hey Barry . . your tweet was sent to me first not ashamed it's a fair question . . second I wanted to make sure people saw Lisa's answer she said what many are thinking . . . I'm glad you weighed in.”
Barry responded, “Appreciate you responding to me. I'm just being honest. I'm not saying we have to ignore things but I do feel the timing of that question was inappropriate. I also belice that we have to correct our own but not in public. Protect our own. The same way everyone else does!” Gayle responded, “And I appreciate your honest.”