Snoop Dogg is hoping to clarify comments he made against Gayle King.
The rapper was criticized for his harsh statements regarding King last week, in reaction to her highly controversial interview with WNBA star Lisa Leslie where the TV host discussed the late Kobe Bryant‘s 2003 sexual assault case.
King asked Leslie during a CBS This Morning interview, “It’s been said that his legacy is complicated because of a sexual assault charge, which was dismissed in 2003, 2004. Is it complicated for you as a woman, as a WNBA player?”
Leslie replied, “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, you know, ‘Lis, go get that girl, or tell her or send her this.’ I have other NBA friends that are like that. Kobe was never like that. I just never, have ever seen 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.”
The case was dismissed in Colorado after his 19-year-old accuser refused to testify on Sept. 1, 2004. He later released a public apology acknowledging that while he believed the pair had consensual sex, he understands that she did not view the incident that same way. She later brought civil charges against the Lakers star, which was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Snoop, a longtime friend of the deceased basketball star, accused King of trying to “tarnish” Bryant’s reputation. Saying in a now deleted, expletive-filled Instagram video, “Back off, b––, before we come get you.”
In a new video, shared on Saturday, Snoop says he was not threatening King.
“Here’s a message for the people that need to know,” he says in the new video clip posted to Instagram. “I’m on a non-violent person. When I said what I said, I spoke for the people who felt like Gayle was very disrespectful towards Kobe Bryant and his family.”
He adds, “Now, with that being said, do I look like I would want any harm to come to a 70-year-old woman? I was raised way better than that. I don’t want to 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’re doing and we’re watching you. Have a little bit more respect for Vanessa, her babies, and Kobe Bryant’s legacy.’”
CBS News president Susan Zirinsky is just one of many people who publicly condemned the rapper in the wake of his earlier comments. Others include: Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Rose McGowan, and Amy Schumer.
Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 alongside his daughter Gianna and seven other people.
— ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY