Gayle ‘Oprah’s friend’ – and a whole lot more

February only lasted 29 days, but it was a long month for Gayle King, who came under fire Feb. 4 for scrutinizing Kobe Bryant’s “complicated” legacy, then saw her own reputation attacked three weeks later after co-moderating a chaotic Democratic presidential debate that would have been better assigned to a trained circus performer with a chair, a whip and a black top hat.

One thing is for sure — the 65-year-old journalist should never again be dismissed as “Oprah’s friend.”

Few would argue that King and co-host Norah O’Donnell appeared out of their element as seven political candidates — some desperate, but all passionate — shouted over one another as well as event moderators in their bids to rule the free world.

It got ugly. But viewers shouldn’t let that political mess take away from the fact that King has proved herself to be a battlehardened interviewer with the scars to prove it.

In the days leading to the debate, King was still dealing with the nasty aftermath of a controversial interview with basketball star Lisa Leslie, conducted days after Los Angeles Lakers star Bryant, a friend of Leslie’s, died in a helicopter crash.

During that chat, King asked Leslie how a sexual assault accusation made against Bryant in 2003 might affect his legacy as a generational talent, loving father and ardent supporter of women’s sports.

What followed were death threats from strangers and public condemnation from King’s peers, including rapper Snoop Dogg, who later apologized for calling King a “Funky dog head b---h” on social media and warned her to “Backoff … before we come get you.”

King blamed a CBS promotional clip teasing the upcoming interview for failing to capture the context of her interview with Leslie, where she respectfully served up a hardball question and stayed with it.

“It’s been said that his legacy is complicated because of a sexual charge which was dismissed in 2003, 2004; is it complicated for you as a woman?” King asked Leslie.

The alleged victim in that case declined to testify after Bryant, who denied he committed rape, confessed in a statement, “I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.”

Criminal charges were dropped after that woman, then 19, opted not to testify.

When Leslie said that the Bryant she knew was never disrespectful toward women, she conceded King’s point that, “… Lisa, you wouldn’t see it, though. As his friend, you wouldn’t see that.”

It was a gutsy question for any reporter, let alone King, whose success is sometimes credited to her close relationship with showbiz powerhouse Oprah Winfrey. But King chose journalism over making friends.

Lost in the mix for King last month was a “CBS This Morning” sitdown with one of the jurors who sent media mogul Harvey Weinstein to prison for rape following a grueling monthlong trial.

Channeling Barbara Walters as she has before, King nearly had “Juror No. 9” in tears as he confessed be broke down emotionally during deliberations.

“It was like I had, like, cut myself open and dumped it all out for everybody to see, and instead of judging me for it, they kind of all put me back together again,” the assuaged juror confided.

Granted Juror No. 9 has nothing on embattled singer R. Kelly, who was reduced to a screaming, dribbling and sometimes aggressive mess during a March 2019 interview with King where he denied decades of sexual misconduct charges.

“You sound like you’re playing the victim here,” King replied without flinching.

King’s critics have charged that she’s harder on black men like Bryant and Kelly than she’s been on white men like her former colleague Charlie Rose, whose alleged sexual misconduct made him a casualty of the #MeToo movement.

She told Vanity Fair that there were “two sides to every story” with regards to Rose, whose accusers number more than two dozen. King also said the accusers’ claims shouldn’t be discounted.

While King’s street cred as a celebrity reporter is beyond reproach, the Democratic debate left questions about her ability to pin down slithery politicians in a hostile environment.

Something in between — like a sitdown with President Trump, who is courting black voters for the November election — could be a fun test for both parties. It would almost certainly make for good TV.