Scarborough: ‘Media silence is deafening’ condemning Snoop Dogg attacks against Gayle King

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough said “the media silence is deafening” regarding criticism of the rapper Snoop Dogg over his own comments about CBS News anchor Gayle King for an interview that broached the Kobe Bryant rape case. 

The rapper, whose legal name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., posted an Instagram video that said “we expect more from you Gayle. Respect the family and back off, bitch, before we come get you.”

“The media silence is deafening,” the “Morning Joe” host said on his show Monday, referring to those comments. “People like Katy Perry, worked with Snoop in the past. People like our dear friend Martha Stewart, who’s working with him now.”

“It’s time for people to speak out,” he said. “Again, let’s just keep this very simple, because it is very simple. A black female journalist asked a tough question, in the middle of a wide-ranging interview, and because of that her life was threatened. ‘We’re coming to get you’ from a man, it must be remembered, who was arrested for murder,” Scarborough added.

Snoop Dogg was charged with the first- and second-degree murder of Philip Woldemariam in 1993. The rapper and his bodyguard were eventually acquitted in early 1996.

“‘We’re coming to get you’ and the New York Times doesn’t write an editorial about this? The Washington Post doesn’t write an editorial, the Wall Street Journal doesn’t, nobody talks about?” Scarborough said. 

The rapper on Saturday sought to clarify his remarks, stating that he wasn’t threatening King but felt she was disrespectful to the Bryant family by bringing up the 2003 rape charges against Bryant in an interview with the former WNBA star Lisa Leslie.

“When I said what I said, I spoke for the people who felt like Gayle was very disrespectful towards Kobe Bryant and his family,” Broadus said.

“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 continued. “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, her babies and Kobe Bryant’s legacy.'”

Bryant died on Jan. 26 in helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.

The shocking death set off scores of tributes to the NBA great, with some of his supporters responding with anger and threats to people who have raised the allegations against Bryant.

Bryant was accused in 2003 of sexually assaulting a Colorado hotel employee. The charges were later dropped after the employee declined to cooperate with prosecutors. She would eventually settle with Bryant outside of court, and Bryant acknowledged in an apology that the woman did not feel that their encounter was consensual.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice also took exception to Snoop Dogg’s threat by posting a warning on Twitter in telling him to “back the f*** off.”

“This is despicable,” Rice wrote on Friday. “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.”

This is despicable. 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. https://t.co/nUxcYCLS62

— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) February 8, 2020