Jada Pinkett Smith Confronts Snoop Dogg Over His Gayle King Comments

Jada Pinkett Smith confronted Snoop Dogg about his public attacks against Gayle King, after the CBS News anchor asked in an interview if the sexual assault allegation against the late Kobe Bryant complicated his legacy.

Smith hosted the rapper on her “Red Table Talk” Facebook talk show in the wake of the controversy, which Snoop Dogg apologized for earlier this month.

In a preview of the discussion released Sunday, Smith told the rapper that when she first heard his comments about King, her “heart dropped.”

“I felt like not only were you talking to Gayle, but you were talking to me,” she said, adding that she felt he had taken power from women, including her mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones and daughter Willow Smith, both of whom were present at the talk.

“I was like, ’Not Snoop!’” Pinkett Smith said. “That was one of the reasons why I felt like I really wanted to have the conversation with you in the spirit of healing.”

Snoop Dogg apologized to King publicly on Feb. 12 for what he called “derogatory” and “disrespectful” remarks about her. He said he’d realized the apology was necessary after speaking with his mother.

A week earlier, he had threatened King in an Instagram video, after the anchor asked WNBA star Lisa Leslie in an interview whether the rape accusation leveled against Bryant more than 15 years ago complicated his legacy, following the NBA legend’s sudden death in a helicopter crash.

In Snoop Dogg’s tirade against King, which drew praise from convicted sex offender Bill Cosby, he blasted her for what he called an attempt to tarnish Bryant’s reputation, saying “back off, bitch.”

Smith often uses her talk show to speak with those at the center of issues dealing with gender and race. In November, she hosted the rapper T.I. to discuss how his actions and comments about his daughter’s virginity were inappropriate, and how they contributed to wider cultural problems, including perceptions of male control over female bodies.

The full “Red Table Talk” episode with Snoop Dogg will air Wednesday.