After bringing up the late Kobe Bryant’s rape allegations during an interview with Lisa Leslie, Gayle King faced a tremendous amount backlash from fans and celebrities alike. Among them—Ari Lennox. The Dreamville songstress however has since changed her tune following a rant on Instagram Live, where she initially called King and her best friend Oprah Winfrey “shit f-ck asses.”
“I am sorry. I was acting like an ass,” the 28-year-old singer wrote in her apology via her Tumblr page. “I impulsively spiraled cause I was sick of seeing the distasteful shade especially at such a terrible and sad time towards someone I know is good person…I’m sorry for triggering people and I’m sorry if I caused any trauma. Im sorry for victim shaming, swear that wasn’t my intent.”
In the lengthy apology, she notes that social media is not conducive to “healthy and productive conversations,” so she has decided to leave it behind.
“I’m excited to leave social media for good,” she added. “I’m excited for true self love, healing, understanding and peace. To all the people who checked me from a place of love, I love you forever and I hear you and I deeply empathize more than you’ll ever know. I would love to keep the conversation going in real life.”
In a video shared on social media last week, Lennox slammed King and her bestie for always calling out Black males accused of sex crimes. She also referred to Winfrey and King as “Okrah” and “Kale” and said, “You want to spend the rest of your days tearing down Black people? Build us up, help us!”
Bryant died January 26 after dying in a fatal helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.
As media outlets struggle to cover the NBA star, his 2003 rape case has been continually brought up. Bryant was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in Eagle County, Colorado in 2003. Although Bryant pled not guilty to the charges, he did admit to cheating on his wife, Vanessa, who had been married to the NBA champion for two years back then. The accuser eventually dropped the charges.