Media

Rose McGowan hits Snoop Dogg for Gayle King comments: ‘Death hurts. Grow the f— up’

by Joe Concha - 02/11/20 10:43 AM ET

Actress Rose McGowan slammed Snoop Dogg this week by telling the rapper to “grow the f— up” after he lashed out at “CBS This Morning” co-anchor Gayle King for mentioning a 2003 rape allegation against Kobe Bryant in a recent interview.

Snoop Dogg, whose legal name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., posted an Instagram video on Friday saying, “We expect more from you, Gayle. Respect the family and back off, bitch, before we come get you.”

McGowan, who was one of the first women to accuse Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, took to Twitter to defend King and Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez, who tweeted about the Bryant rape case shortly after news of his death last month. She also called Bryant “a hero.”

“You want to know why Kobe Bryant is a hero?” McGowan tweeted to her 900,000 followers on Monday. “He apologized to a hurt young woman. Snoop & others it’s time to stop terrorizing [Gayle King] and [Felicia Sonmez]. Truth hurts. Death hurts. Grow the f— up. Kobe stopped hurting women, so can you.”

McGowan included a copy of Bryant’s apology over the 2003 incident. The charges against him were dropped after the woman declined to cooperate with prosecutors. She and Bryant eventually settled out of court in a related civil suit, and Bryant acknowledged that the woman did not feel that their encounter was consensual.

You want to know why Kobe Bryant is a hero? He apologized to a hurt young woman. Snoop & others it’s time to stop terrorizing @gayleking & @feliciasonmez Truth hurts. Death hurts. Grow the fuck up. Kobe stopped hurting women, so can you pic.twitter.com/EEkg6u1HNM

— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) February 9, 2020

Snoop Dogg said on Saturday that he wasn’t threatening King, 65, in his remarks the previous day.

“When I said what I said, I spoke for the people who felt like Gayle was very disrespectful towards Kobe Bryant and his family,” Snoop Dogg said in a video on Instagram.

“Now with that being said, what do I look like, wanting some harm to come to a 70-year-old woman? I was raised way better than that,” the 48-year-old entertainer said. “I don’t want no harm to come to her, and I didn’t threaten her. All I did was say, ‘Check it out. You out of pocket for what you doing, and we watching you. Have a little bit more respect for Vanessa [Bryant], her babies and Kobe Bryant’s legacy.'”

Oprah Winfrey, who is close with King, said on NBC’s “Today” that the CBS News veteran has been the target of death threats following her interview with former WNBA star Lisa Leslie, in which King raised the sexual assault charge against Bryant.

CBS News President Susan Zirinsky has said the network “fully supports” King while vigorously condemning the “reprehensible” threats made against the 65-year-old co-anchor.

Former national security adviser Susan Rice was among those who criticized Snoop Dogg’s remarks.

“This is despicable,” Rice wrote. “Gayle King is one of the most principled, fair and tough journalists alive. Snoop, back the **** off. You come for @GayleKing, you come against an army. You will lose, and it won’t be pretty.”

King was not on air Friday amid the controversy, but co-anchored “CBS This Morning” on Monday and Tuesday.

Tags Gayle King Oprah Winfrey