So the King is… Canceled!!!!

It took me awhile to decide on whether or not I even wanted to address this issue… But here goes.  By now I’m sure we are all well aware of the Gayle King/Lisa Leslie interview where she questions her about her friendship with the late Kobe Bryant and his legacy where Gayle also brings up his 2003 rape allegation and the subsequent backlash that she has received.  Many people, celebrities and non-celebrities alike, have been voicing their opinions about the interview; whether for or against Gayle King’s line of questioning.  One video post in particular that went viral was the one of legendary rapper Snoop Dogg where he vehemently scolds Gayle King and Oprah for what he calls them having “their foot on the black man’s neck” as well as using some rather choice words to describe King.  This video sparked an array of other videos from former athletes, comedians, radio personalities and so forth; all of which shared similar sentiments as Snoop Dogg, with very few coming to Gayle’s defense.   It also sparked a social media discussion about the way black women are mistreated, disrespected and disregarded by everyone; especially by the one that we thought would protect us the most… the Black man.

Now let me say this loud and clear so the people in the back can hear me… *clears throat*  I AM NOT SAYING EVERY BLACK MAN.  But as a woman of color myself, I can say that there is a collection of select few black men that find comfort in berating, belittling, and all but dehumanizing their female counterpart; for whatever reason, they have come to the conclusion that it is acceptable.  Again, not all but quite a few.  However, contrary to popular belief, I am not upset with Snoop Dogg in the least bit… (I know I heard the gasps loud and clear)  But here is why I’m not upset or angry at what he said.  Though I don’t condone the terminology he used or the calling out of names nor do I condone the death threats that King has suggested that she has received, what Snoop said was valid.  His delivery was deplorable, but the message was still valid; which is…

Stop coming for black men when you aren’t going to do the same for everyone else!

And I agree wholeheartedly.  There has to be some sort of fairness across the board.  I have yet to see Gayle sit down with Matt Lauer or Kevin Spacey or any of the others and do an interview that is solely focused on their indiscretions or Oprah produce or support a film about Harvey Weinstein and all the allegations against him. So why is it okay for Gayle and Oprah to shine light on the dark pasts of Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Bill Cosby and Kobe Bryant?… (There is more to unpack here but I want to stay focused so that I can get to my point.)  There were even comments concerning outrage at the fact that people were verbally attacking Gayle with such vitriol but not Bryant Gumble who also did and interview where he asked a similar question in reference to the 2003 rape allegations recently claiming that the only difference was that he is a male and King a female.  I find that simple reasoning for the difference in global response highly flawed.  Here’s why…

In the video clip of the Bryant Gumble interview you hear him interviewing a fellow reporter/journalists where he asks her if she found Kobe defensive about the 2003 trial, which she answered… No further probing.  He then goes on to summarize Kobe’s legacy as an author, philanthropist and great athlete.  And that’s it.  In comparison there are a couple places where Gayle went wrong…

Gayle first asked Lisa if she ever knew “that side” of Kobe (now Lisa as his longtime friend would have spent ample amount of time with him and would be able to speak to his character). Lisa goes on to say that she has never known Kobe to be aggressive with women and that she has other ball player friends who are… Gayle tells Lisa, “But you were his friend, so you wouldn’t have seen it because you were his friend.” Mistake #1… Gayle then goes on to ask whether or not the allegations should even be a part of his legacy at this point; Lisa answers to say that she feels that the media should be more sensitive to the issue and that he went to trial for the case at that point Gayle interjects and says that the trial was dismissed because the witness refused to testify; Mistake #2… and the exact point that is when Gayle placed the final nail in her own coffin…

With both instances she negated every positive thing that Lisa said about Kobe by casting a shadow of doubt on his reputation which all but convicted him of a crime that was never fully proven in court.  To say that this was bad timing is a gross understatement.  And that is why Gayle got the backlash that she did… Not because she brought it up or that the question was raised at all.  It is because she chose (and yes, even if it was at the request of the network she still chose to ask those questions… don’t be fooled, Gayle pulls too much weight to not have a say so in what she asks, mmkay) to continue to probe and then rebut the answers that were given as if Lisa was on trial testifying on Kobe’s behalf.  It’s just not a good look.  Had she left the questions as “asked and answered” Gayle would not be somewhere claiming to be in fear for her life and that is the honest truth.

Again, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Snoop Dogg apologized and I hate that she received death threats and was call every name in the book except a child of God… however, I still stand by the fact that, though harsh and rash, there was validity in Snoop’s point.  Do I personally feel sorry for Gayle King?  Absolutely not.  Do I wish the treatment she received on anyone else?  Absolutely not.  But this sort of goes back to my post on karma; if you can dish it out, you need to be able to take as well.  I hate it all went down the way that it did and I wish that Kobe and Michael and so on were still around so that they could defend themselves but the fact is that they are not and someone has to do it.  Honestly, we all know that had Kobe still been alive the 2003 allegations would be the furthest thing from our minds and we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.

At the end of the day, there is a time and a place for everything but that was not the time nor the place Gayle.  Journalist, reporters, even bloggers like myself need to have a certain level of tact when addressing the sensitive issues of life so that we are viewed in a positive and tactful way; not a tacky way.