Snoop Dogg is opening up about his intentions when making controversial comments about journalist Gayle King.
In a preview for Wednesday’s special episode of “Red Table Talk,” the rapper explained why he criticized Gayle after she brought up Kobe Bryant’s past sexual assault allegation in an interview following his death.
According to Snoop, he was just trying to “protect” the late NBA star’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, and their family in the wake of the tragic helicopter crash that killed Kobe, their 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
“I wanted to make sure that what I said was said the right way,” Snoop told “RTT” co-hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow, and mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris. “And I wanted to make sure that the message was across that we love Kobe and be respectful of Vanessa and those kids.”
He continued, “That’s what the whole intent was: To protect that woman and them babies over there because she’s still grieving and let’s give them that respect.”
During an interview with the late NBA star’s friend, WNBA player Lisa Leslie, King broached Bryant’s assault charge, which was later dismissed. Soon after, Snoop took to Instagram to slam the veteran journalist, urging her to “back off, bitch, before we come get you.”
Snoop later offered a public apology to Gayle, and admitted that he “overreacted.”
“Two wrongs don’t make no right. When you’re wrong, you gotta fix it,” he began. “Gayle King, I publicly tore you down by coming at you in a derogatory manner based off of emotions, being angry at questions that you asked. I would like to apologize to you publicly for the language that I used and calling you out of your name and just being disrespectful. I didn’t mean for it to be like that. I was just expressing myself for a friend that wasn’t here to defend himself.”
Gayle accepted the apology.
In another preview clip, Jada confronted Snoop over the controversy, recalling her reaction to the rapper’s comments.
“When you first came out and you said what you said in regards to Gayle, my heart dropped,” Jada began. “I felt like not only were you talking to Gayle, but you were talking to me.”
“I was like, ‘Oh no. Snoop has taken his power flow away from me, away from Willow, away from my mother,'” she added.
As Jada continued to speak, Snoop shook his head in disappointment. “I was like, ‘Not Snoop,'” Jada explained. “And so that’s one of the reasons why I felt like I really wanted to have this conversation with you in the spirit of healing.”
We’ll see how it all goes down when the full episode airs Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET on Facebook Watch.
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