Jada Pinkett Smith’s 'Heart Dropped' After Snoop Dogg Slammed Gayle King Over Kobe Bryant Question

Jada Pinkett Smith was devastated after she heard that Snoop Dogg criticized Gayle King for her questions about Kobe Bryant’s past sexual assault case in an interview that aired in the wake of his death. In a preview for the February 26 episode of Red Table Talk, Jada, 48, opened up about how the rapper’s comments and use of sexist language affected her and her family.

In a preview for the upcoming interview, Jada, her mom Adrienne, and her daughter Willow sat down with Snoop, 48. “When you first came out and you said what you said in regards to Gayle, my heart dropped,” the Girls Trip actress said. “I felt like not only were you talking to Gayle, but you were talking to me.” The talk show host explained that she felt like the rapper’s comments took away power from herself, her daughter, and her mother.

Jada revealed that Snoop would be a part of her Facebook Watch show on February 21. “@snoopdogg is coming to @redtabletalk Wednesday, February 26th to have an in-depth and insightful conversation about The Culture of Disrespect Between Black Men and Black Women. Join us,” she wrote on Instagram.

In the wake of Kobe’s untimely death on January 26, Gayle, 65, interviewed WNBA star Lisa Leslie about the basketball legend’s life and legacy for CBS This Morning. The journalist brought up the past sexual assault charges, which were later dropped. “It’s been said that his legacy is complicated because of a sexual assault charge, which was dismissed in 2003, 2004. Is it complicated for you as a woman, as a WNBA player?” Gayle asked Lisa, 47. “It’s not complicated for me at all,” Lisa replied.

On February 12, Snoop took to Instagram to publicly apologize to the journalist. He said that he “overreacted.” “Two wrongs don’t make no right. When you’re wrong, you gotta fix it 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,” he wrote on social media.

The California native added, “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.” Gayle accepted his apology, and said that she understood “the raw emotions caused by this tragic loss.” “As a journalist, it is sometimes challenging to balance doing my job with the emotions and feelings during difficult times,” she said in a statement to the Associated Press. “I don’t always get it perfect but I’m constantly striving to do it with compassion and integrity.”