Rapper Snoop Dogg called for the release of comedian Bill Cosby in several profanity-laced Instagram posts that attacked Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey for rehashing Kobe Bryant’s 2003 sexual assault charges after the basketball player died in a helicopter crash last week.
“Did that fake ass micheal Jackson shit to tarnish his name with them lying ass kids and here she is with a known rapist smiling and laughing,” Snoop posted to Instagram with a photograph of Winfrey and disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. “[F—] u and Gayle. Free bill Cosby.”
Cosby, 82, was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of sexual assault committed in 2004. Cosby’s Twitter account responded to Snoop, saying, “Snoop — when they brought me to my gated community and placed me inside of my penthouse, they didn’t win nor did they silence me.”
The fiery words from Snoop came after CBS News chief anchor Gayle King asked WNBA star Lisa Leslie if the late Kobe Bryant’s reputation was “complicated” due to sexual assault allegations stemming from an incident in Colorado in July of 2003. Leslie replied in the negative, asserting that Bryant wasn’t the “kind of guy” to “violate a woman or be aggressive in that way.” King later said the moment, which sparked backlash, was “taken out of context.”
The Lakers star was accused of raping an employee at a Colorado hotel, and, while the criminal charges were dismissed, the two parties agreed to a settlement, and he acknowledged that the victim did not consider the encounter consensual.
“We expect more from you, Gayle,” Snoop added. “Don’t you hang out with Oprah? Why y’all attacking us? We your people. You ain’t come after f—ing Harvey Weinstein, asking them dumbass questions.”
Weinstein, 67, is standing trial in New York for sexual assault charges and has been indicted in Los Angeles on similar charges. Weinstein and Cosby represent two of the highest-profile celebrities charged with sexual crimes during the #MeToo era.
Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, along with seven other passengers, died when their helicopter crashed outside Los Angeles last week.
