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Oprah gets emotional as she reveals Gayle King is receiving death threats over Kobe Bryant backlash

The TV star is close friends with Gayle

Oprah Winfrey has revealed that her best friend Gayle King is receiving death threats, after she was criticised for bringing up Kobe Bryant’s rape case during a recent interview.

During an appearance on Hoda & Jenna & Friends on Friday, Oprah got emotional as she admitted Gayle “is not doing well” amid the backlash.

Anchor Hoda Kotb said, “I think the last 24 hours for your best friend have been pretty difficult after that interview with Lisa Leslie about Kobe. And I just wondered just how she’s doing?”

Oprah replied: “She is not doing well. She has now death threats and has to now travel with security and she’s feeling very much attacked.”

“In the context of the interview, everyone seemed fine, including Lisa Leslie. And it was only because somebody at the network put up that clip,” she continued.

“And I can see how people would obviously be very upset if you thought that Gayle was just trying to press to get an answer from Lisa Leslie. Obviously all things pass, she will be okay, but she hasn’t slept in two days.”

“You know, I was on the phone with her this morning, I was on the phone with her last night, I was on the phone with her the night before. I think you stand in the gap, you try to be there for your friends.”

“But this is very hard, because when you have social media and the force of social media, and particularly people who didn’t see either interview, making attacks.”

Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna tragically died in a helicopter crash earlier this month, alongside seven other people.

After Kobe’s death hit headlines, the basketball player’s previous sexual assault case resurfaced on social media.

Back in 2003, a hotel employee accused Kobe of sexual assault, but the criminal case was dismissed after his accuser refused to testify.

Gayle King recently interviewed retired WNBA star Lisa Leslie about her relationship with Kobe for CBS This Morning, and during their chat, she asked Lisa about Kobe’s rape case.

After a teaser for the interview was posted on Twitter, fans and friends of the late athlete criticised Gayle for bringing it up.

Responding to the backlash in a video posted on Instagram, Gayle publicly slammed her employer CBS for sharing a “salacious” and “out of context” clip from the interview.

She said: “I’ve been up reading the comments about the interview I did with Lisa Leslie about Kobe Bryant, and I know that if I had only seen the clip that you saw, I’d be extremely angry with me too.”

“I am mortified. I am embarrassed and I am very angry. Unbeknownst to me, my network put up a clip from a very wide-ranging interview, totally taken out of context, and when you see it that way, it’s very jarring.”

 

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The broadcaster said she was “advised to say nothing,” but wanted to address the backlash after reading messages on social media.

“The last thing I would want to do is disparage him (Bryant) at this particular time,” she said. “I hope people understand that.”

In a separate statement, CBS News said: “Gayle conducted a thoughtful, wide-ranging interview with Lisa Leslie about the legacy of Kobe Bryant.”

“An excerpt was posted that did not reflect the nature and tone of the full interview. We are addressing the internal process that led to this and changes have already been made.”

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