Gayle King Says She Understands The Backlash Over Kobe Bryant Question. Is Mad At CBS For Airing An "Out Of Context" Clip From Interview With Lisa Leslie (Video)

Video After The Jump

Gayle King is responding to backlash over a controversial question.

During an interview with former WNBA player Lisa Leslie about the legacy of her friend Kobe Bryant, King brought up a sensitive subject: The basketball legend's 2003 rape charge.

The criminal case against Bryant was dropped on Sept. 1, 2004, after the accuser declined to testify. In August of that year, the woman filed a civil lawsuit, which was settled out of court on March 2, 2005.

In a two-part video posted to Twitter, the "CBS This Morning" host discussed the controversy.

"If I had only seen the clip that you saw, I would be extremely angry with me too. I am mortified, I am embarrassed and I am very angry. 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," she explained.

She said that she was "advised to say nothing," but that wasn't "good enough for (her)."

"I wanted to get Lisa's take on it as a friend who knew him well. What she thought, where that would stand," she said. "It was very powerful when she looked me in the eye, as a member of the media, to say it's time for the media to leave that alone and back off. During the course of the interview, I asked follow-up questions because I wanted to make sure her position and perspective were very clear."

She added that she talked to Leslie Wednesday night and "believes (she) was OK with the interview" before pointing fingers at the network again.

"For the network to take the most salacious part, when taken out of context, and put it up online, for people who didn't see the whole interview is very upsetting to me and is something I'm going to have to deal with them," she said.

King said she had spent time with Bryant on "many social occasions," describing him as "kind and warm," and is still mourning his loss.

"The last thing I would want to do is disparage him at this particular time," she added. "I hope people understand that."