Source: Facebook
The full episode of Snoop Dogg‘s “Red Table Talk” finally aired on Facebook Watch on Wednesday, and the big question is whether it clarified the issue at hand between Snoop and Gayle King. In addition to this, did it subdue the strong feelings each person caused across the Black community?
The answer is most likely a no. People still had strong feelings towards both King and Snoop Dogg.
During the episode, Snoop once again explained why he called Gayle King a “b*tch” after she brought up the rape allegations against the late Kobe Bryant in an interview with Lisa Leslie.
“It was a matter of me losing control because we still haven’t swallowed Nip … we still hurt behind that and then Kobe and his daughter,” Snoop said, referencing Nipsey Hussle‘s murder in 2019. Snoop then went on to explain his personal losses: “I lost a grandson, a grandmother and then I gotta be strong in front of everybody… What about when I want to cry? What about when I’m hurt and I’m feeling bad and I feel disgusted and I want to be angry and I want to just blurt out, I can’t.”
“I let my emotions get the best of me,” he continued. “I was frustrated on top of just venting and doing it the wrong way.”
Snoop went on to tell co-hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, her mom Adrienne Banfield-Jones and her daughter Willow Smith how his mom influenced his apology towards Gayle King.
“When your mama can make you feel like a kid, that’s when you gotta get right,” Snoop said. “She didn’t say I was wrong, she was just giving me: ‘You know I raised you better than that… You’re a representation of us, every woman that has ever crossed your life, you’re a representation of that.'”
Gayle King caused major backlash in early February when she asked Leslie during a “CBS This Morning” interview about Bryant’s rape charges back in 2003: “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 responded, “It’s not complicated for me at all” and she didn’t believe Bryant to be that “kind of person.” King followed up with, “But Lisa you wouldn’t see it though. As his friend, you wouldn’t see it,” to which Leslie replied, “And that’s possible. I just don’t believe that.”
The whole segment caused people to slam King as someone who was trying to tarnish Bryant’s legacy. Some people thought King’s questions were too soon, considering it hadn’t even been a month yet since Kobe and his daughter Gianna tragically died in a helicopter crash along with seven other passengers.
Pinkett said Gayle was invited to “The Red Table Talk” and that she wanted to come, however, she didn’t give a reason why she never made it.
King’s side of the story could’ve shed light on her reasoning behind asking Leslie her questions. Although Snoop Dogg agreed that most people were on his side, there were definitely people who believed King was simply doing her job as a journalist and exploring Bryant’s full life — including the good and the bad.
The fact that neither Jada, Adrienne nor Willow pushed Snoop on this angered some people on social media who still thought Snoop’s actions were a misogynistic response to a woman simply trying to do her job. Some thought that the co-hosts coddled Snoop, especially when they played video of Jemele Hill and Iyanla Vanzant praising Snoop’s apology.
Then there were some folks who still felt like Snoop didn’t have to apologize at all and King was the one who needed to make amends.
https://twitter.com/MB780_/status/1232727369368166400
During the show, Jada also said that Black men were the ones who came after King, but many Black women on social media reminded her that they were also upset with King’s question to Lisa Leslie.
Then, there were some who were satisfied with the episode. “Ok that went better than i expected,” one Twitter user wrote. “Snoop ended with: ‘I like being checked. you have to wanna be checked if you gone check somebody. it’s the rule of the game.'”
The response to the episode was definitely a mixed bag and further cemented the difference of opinions, even within the Black community. Check out more commentary below.
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