CBS: the Mess behind Gayle King

CBS swiftly promised “changes” to its “internal process” after its most high-profile anchor, Gayle King, publicly blasted the network over a clip that it used to promote one of her interviews.

On Thursday, King, co-anchor of “CBS This Morning,” posted a furious video message criticizing the network for using a segment from her interview with Kobe Bryant’s longtime friend, WNBA star Lisa Leslie, that focused only on the late athlete’s 2003 sexual assault case.

“I am mortified. I am embarrassed and I am very angry,” King fumed on Instagram. “Unbeknownst to me, my network put up a clip from a very wide-ranging interview — totally taken out of context — and when you see it that way, it’s very jarring. It’s jarring to me. I didn’t even know anything about it.”

After the interview clip was posted online Tuesday, King received harsh criticism for seeming to highlight the dark episode in Bryant’s life just 10 days after his death in a helicopter accident, which also killed his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. For example, Snoop Dogg, another friend of the Lakers legend, said in his own video message, “Respect the family and back off, bitch, before we come get you.”

Just hours after King posted her video, CBS released a statement that read: “Gayle conducted a thoughtful, wide-ranging interview with Lisa Leslie about the legacy of Kobe Bryant. An excerpt was posted that did not reflect the nature and tone of the full interview. We are addressing the internal process that led to this and changes have already been made.”