Gayle King criticized for discussing Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault case

Gayle King issued a statement of forgiveness to Snoop Dogg after the interview with Lisa Leslie. King said that she could see both sides of the sensitive issue, according to The New York Times.

Following the death of Kobe Bryant Jan. 26, fans were shocked to hear journalist Gayle King discuss Bryant’s 2003 sexual assault case. Bryant was charged with sexual assaulting 19 year old who worked at a hotel resort on Jul. 18 2003, according to the New York Times. The case was dismissed because she refused to testify.

In a Feb. 4 “CBS This Morning” interview, King asked former WNBA star Lisa Leslie about Bryant’s sexual assault charge. She asked if Leslie, as a woman and fellow basketball legend, felt that the case complicated his legacy.

Leslie told King the sexual assault case did not complicate her perception of Bryant’s legacy, and if people had questions about the case, they had many years to ask him about it when he was alive.

Some celebrities seemed to oppose King’s question as well, including rapper Snoop Dogg. In a video posted to Instagram Feb. 5, the rapper said King was “out of pocket” for bringing up the sexual assault allegation. He later deleted the video after it garnered social media backlash. Former security advisor under the Obama administration Susan Rice called the rapper’s video “despicable.” Snoop Dogg later apologized to King, who has since accepted his apology.

Dodge College of Film and Media Arts professor Pete Weitzner covered the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case in his mass media law class for broadcast journalism students. He told The Panther that today’s social media world is another facet that makes a tough profession even tougher.

“You can write a story perfectly but if someone disagrees with you and they have hundreds of thousands of followers, you’re in trouble,” Weitzner said. “And Snoop Dogg has a lot of followers.”

Weitzner said that people should remember that King is a seasoned journalist who never takes the easy way out. He has met King before on the set of “CBS This Morning” and stated, from his experience, she is a person with empathy and a good heart.

“Whenever someone does something that is ethically questionable, we have to take into account that person’s heart, and Gayle King is a good person,” said Weitzner said. “(King) did ask the question in an appropriate way, but maybe it just wasn’t the right time to ask it,” Weitzner said.

Brooke Harmon, senior piano major, believes people want to remember a romanticized version of Bryant. “His assault case should be talked about,” Harmon said. “As hard as it is to hear, it’s a reminder that even the most inspirational among us can do bad things.”

When asked how Bryant’s legacy should be honored moving forward, junior kinesiology major Armond Gray told The Panther that he should be honored as one of the greatest basketball players of all time

“His magnitude and reach went beyond the sport,” Gray said. “He was an advocate for equality, which showed through his support for the WNBA. I have friends who don’t know anything about basketball and were still shocked by his death.”