Snoop Dogg’s effort to defend the honor of late NBA player Kobe Bryant blew up in his face when fans bashed him for verbally berating journalist Gayle King earlier this month.
Snoop appeared on an episode of Red Table Talk which aired Wednesday with Jada Pinkett Smith and her family to give more context to his comments, apologize and discuss his friendship with Bryant.
Earlier this month, Snoop called King a “funky dog head b***h” and threatened to "come get her" over a CBS This Morning interview with Lisa Leslie where she brought up the late athlete's 2003 sexual assault case.
On the much-anticipated episode of the Facebook Live series, Smith established that the episode wouldn't be used as an attempt to further drive home his point, but as an open conversation about the truth of the matter.
“This conversation is not about taking sides. This conversation is not about trying to prove who was right or who was wrong,” Smith said. “This conversation is about healing.”
When you first said what you said in regards to Gayle, my heart dropped,” Smith said. “I felt like not only were you talking to Gayle but you were talking to me.”
Smith recounted the outcry from a large number of Black men who sided with Snoop in his attack on King.
“Black men were furious,” she added. “I had not seen that, as a collective, in a long time.”
In the sit-down, the 48-year-old revealed he was hurt by King’s line of questioning. Snoop joined millions of Americans who idolized Bryant’s electrifying play in the Staples Center during his career as a Los Angeles Laker. He said he felt that as a fan of Bryant, “it’s our duty to protect our superheroes.”
“It was just a matter of me losing control. We still ain’t even swallowed Nip,” he said in acknowledgement of the March 2019 killing of rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was also friends with Snoop. “Then Kobe and his daughter? I lost a grandson, a grandmother…I was frustrated on top of just venting and doing it the wrong way.”
“Kobe was like the son and the brother to LA that we all needed, and we all loved him for that,” Snoop explained. “From the early ’90s to his last days of playing basketball, we watched him grow into a man, a father, a mentor, a leader.”
Snoop then said he felt like the blowback made him feel like he had too much power.
“It made me feel like I had too much power and at that particular time, I was abusing it…. I’m a great person as far as understanding when I’m wrong," the veteran rapper added. "I like being an example of wrong and right because my whole career is based off of being wrong and right.”
A few days after the rant against the journalist, Snoop issued an apology, which he told the trio of Red Table Talk hosts was "authentic" and "sincere."
Smith noted that she saw Snoop coming on the show “as a huge opportunity to talk about the wounds and culture of disrespect between Black men and Black women.” According to Smith, King has been invited to the show but has not responded to the invitation.
Watch the full episode below:
