On Sunday, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan weighed in on the Gayle King controversial interview with Lisa Leslie that probed into Kobe Bryant‘s past sexual assault case. Farrakhan defended, in part, Snoop Dogg’s vitriolic response to the CBS News anchor.
During his keynote address for the Nation of Islam’s Saviours’ Day 2020 national convention at the TCF Center in Detroit, Michigan, Farrakhan sided with Snoop for verbally slamming King after she sprinkled her interview with questions about Bryant’s 2003 rape case, which was ultimately dismissed. The minister didn’t mince words when he said that Snoop’s anger was justified.
At the 4:54 mark of his talk, Farrakhan said, “Sister Gayle, though I love you and I love Kobe, and I love Snoop, I defend Snoop’s anger. I defend Snoop’s rebuke.
“When somebody feels hurt and they use hurtful speech, hurtful speech is justified when you hurt like you hurt. He was hurt and we are hurt,” Farrakhan said around the 6:29 mark to a robust applause, using the Holy Quran as his point of reference in a YouTube video.
Many people, including the minister, deemed the critical line of questioning by King as disrespectful given that Bryant had recently died tragically in a helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others late last month.
He advised his captive audience to pray for “Sister Gayle.”
“I pray that you will recover that lost sense of commitment to your people out of which you came,” he said.
But Farrakhan also admonished Snoop for calling King out of her name.
King has been heavily criticized by a number of celebrities, especially Snoop Dogg who took things to another level when he cursed out the veteran journalist.
“Gayle King, you out of pocket for that s–t, way out of pocket,” Snoop exclaimed after the Leslie interview went viral. “What do you gain from that? I swear to God, we the worst. We the f—–g worst. We expect more from you Gayle. Don’t you hang out with Oprah? Why y’all attacking us? We your people! You ain’t come after fucking Harvey Weinstein asking them dumb ass questions.”
Snoop closed out the video with an added blow, calling King a “Funky dog head b—h.”
“How dare you try to tarnish my motherf—ing homeboy’s reputation. Punk motherf—er. Respect the family and back off, b—h, before we come get you.”
That video erupted in conversations across the internet that centered on what some believed to be a lack of compassion toward Black women when they do something that goes against the grain of their culture.
However, Snoop also took a hit online for how he crossed the line in his handling of King, including some heated words from President Barack Obama‘s former National Security Adviser Susan Rice which some perceived as a veiled threat.
To that regard, Farrakhan said that’s where he draws the line and Snoop was dead wrong for his disrespect toward King.
“I don’t approve of no one referring to any woman, Black or white with the title of B,” he said referring to the word b—h. He reminded the audience that many took a vow not to verbally abuse Black women during the Million Man March in 1995.
The “Drop It Like It’s Hot” artist is still in fact facing scrutiny over his response to King and, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, will appear on an episode of Jada Pinkett Smith’s highly popular Red Table Talk Facebook show to address the rapper’s disrespect toward King.
Snoop has since offered more than one apology to King.
“Gayle King, I publicly tore you down by coming at you in a derogatory manner based off of emotions, me being angry at questions that you asked,” Snoop said. “Um, (I) overreacted. Should have handled it way different from that. I was raised way better than that. So 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.”
During his convention speech, Farrakhan also told King that she should not allow her superiors to “use” her. His comments start at the 2:44 mark of the video.
“Sister Gayle, my brother Snoop. My brother Snoop was angry, angry with you because what you did was so unnecessary. And so I defend the good that Gayle has done in her life. But I’m saying to all of you that are in privileged positions with white people, don’t let them use you.”
And while Farrakhan chastised both King and Snoop, he did say, at the 7:40 mark, that “Sister Gayle” could get back into the good graces of the people if she apologizes and repents.
“You can regain your place with us but not by justifying what you do. Why don’t you just repent and say ‘I’m sorry.’ As Snoop said it. He was sorry because Momma got on him. And momma was right, but God is also right. She did something that provoked hurtful speech from many more people than Snoop.”
The Saviours’ Day celebrates the birth of Master W. Fard Muhammad, the Messiah of the Christians, Mahdi of the Muslims and teacher of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, according to the Nation of Islam website.
The Feb. 24 public memorial for Bryant and his daughter is set at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
