Snoop Dogg's Mother Convinced Him to Apologize to Gayle King: 'She Raised Me to Respect Women'
Snoop Dogg has his mother to thank for making him realize the severity of his language directed at Gayle King.
Snoop, 48, spoke at length about the media storm that followed his public criticism of the CBS anchor, 65, on Wednesday’s episode of Red Table Talk on Facebook Watch with hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris.
“You would think it was more people against me, there was more people with me,” Snoop said of the support he received after lashing out at King.
Despite the support, the rapper said, “It made me feel like I had too much power. And at that particular time, I was abusing it. That’s just what I felt, and I had to get it right.”
It was a phone call from his mother, Beverly Tate, who served as a church choir director for 42 years, which made him realize the gravity of his words.
“My mother raised me in church and she raised me to respect women,” Snoop said. “It was certain things she said to me that took me back to being a little kid. And when your mama can make you feel like a kid, that’s when you gotta get right.”
He continued, “I didn’t feel grown, I didn’t feel like I was Snoop Dogg the rapper, I felt like Snoopy. I felt like, ‘OK, all right.’ And she didn’t say I was wrong, she was just giving me, ‘You know I raised you better. You’re a representation of us. Every woman that has ever crossed your life, you’re a representation of that.'”
Snoop shared a public apology video on his Instagram account earlier this month in which he said he had “overreacted.”
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While Snoop told Pinkett Smith he had not talked directly with King, he said he has “reached out through her friends, her associates and I even DM’d her, sending her a prayer, letting her know I apologize to her.”
He also received support from close friends, revealing, “When this thing happened with Gayle I got calls from Tyler Perry, Puff Daddy, Van Jones, powerful black men and they didn’t bash me. They was just like, ‘Brother we got your back if you need. But we think you should’ve said… it a little differently.'”
“We got a real brotherhood going on behind the scenes,” he added.
In the wake of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death last month at the age of 41 alongside his daughter Gianna and seven others, King, interviewed WNBA star Lisa Leslie about Bryant’s life and legacy for CBS This Morning. King broached the subject of Bryant’s past sexual assault case asking Leslie if she perceived the Lakers star’s legacy as “complicated” due to the previous allegation.
In 2003, Bryant pleaded not guilty to felony sexual assault after a 19-year-old employee of a Colorado ski resort accused him of sexual assault and claimed he blocked her from leaving his room and allegedly choked her. Criminal charges against the athlete were eventually dropped, and a civil case brought against Bryant was settled out of court.
“It’s not complicated for me at all,” Leslie replied.
After inquiring whether the athlete thought the question was “fair,” Leslie noted that as the case was eventually dismissed, “I think that’s how we should leave it.”
A clip of that portion of King’s interview was re-circulated by CBS after it had aired in full, which led stars, including Snoop and 50 Cent, to slam King on social media.
Two days after Snoop’s apology, King accepted it telling the Associated Press in a statement, “I accept the apology and understand the raw emotions caused by this tragic loss.”
She also addressed how “as a journalist, it is sometimes challenging to balance doing my job with the emotions and feelings during difficult times,” adding, “I don’t always get it perfect but I’m constantly striving to do it with compassion and integrity.”
Snoop added on Red Table Talk, “I’m a great person as far as understanding when I’m wrong. I get it and I understand and I love being that example.”
Red Table Talk airs Wednesdays on Facebook Watch at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET.
