A shaken Oprah Winfrey went on TODAY with Hoda and Jenna when she was asked how her best friend Gayle King was doing after a CBS This Morning clip was released of her asking WNBA star Lisa Leslie questions about Kobe Bryant’s 2003 sexual assault case.
In tears, Winfrey responded saying, “May I say she is not doing well because she has now death threats and has to now travel with security and she’s feeling very much attacked.”
King received backlash after CBS released the clip of the interview earlier this week. The journalist asked Leslie whether Bryant’s sexual assault case from nearly 17 years ago complicated his legacy.
Leslie handled the question fairly well, retorting that Bryant went to trial and it was dismissed.
King did release a statement on Thursday saying that she did not know the network was going to release the clip and blamed CBS for using that particular clip to promote the interview.
Since then, Winfrey said that King has not slept in two days due to the death threats.
