As if there's anyone left on Earth who still thinks TV host Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey are lovers, the CBS anchorwoman is once again putting to rest long-standing rumors surrounding their longtime friendship.
“It used to really bother me," King told Alex Cooper on her Call Her Daddy podcast on Wednesday. "I was recently divorced, and the National Enquirer did a story about [how] that’s the reason for the divorce, because they're secretly gay."
King, who last year became only the second civilian Black woman to travel into space, said the speculation deeply affected her, and she was bothered that her bestie refused to publicly shut down the rumors.
“Number one, if we were gay, we would tell you, because believe me, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just that I prefer a man," said King, then repeated herself to make it clear: "I prefer a man."
She was not just "bothered" Winfrey let the rumors keep flying however, King revealed she once begged Winfrey to directly address all that chatter about them being lesbians during an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, because she felt the gossip was affecting her dating life.
“I used to say to Oprah, ‘You gotta do a show on this, because it’s hard enough for me to get a date on a Saturday night and now people think I’m a lesbian, you’ve gotta say something,’” King recalled.
Winfrey, according to King, felt that it was best not to give the rumors any attention. The TV icon encouraged her to “just leave it be.”
At long last, Winfrey did address the rumors during a 2024 episode of Moments That Make Us TV series with King and Melinda French Gates.
"Maybe people aren’t accustomed to seeing women with this kind of truth bond," said Winfrey. "The reason why I think our friendship has worked is because Gayle is happier, not happy, for me in any kind of success or victory or challenge I get through than I am for myself. And I feel as happy as she does — I can’t be happier than, cannot surpass Gayle.”
While admitting that situation was frustrating for her, King said these days she no longer cares what opinions are posted online about her sexuality, or anything else.
“I’ve now gotten to the point in my life that very few things get to me," King told Cooper. "Because, you know, when you go on social media, it is an accelerator on hate,” she said.
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And it's not as if King, a veteran television interviewer, isn't familiar with discussing sexual activity in the LGBTQ+ community. As Out reported in 2023, she asked Bravo's Andy Cohen and his dear friend, CNN's Anderson Cooper, about threesomes.
"Andy, can I ask why you know that Anderson is open to threesomes in the bedroom?”
Cooper, who was drinking from a glass of soda, immediately did a spit take, soaking himself and the studio carpet.
“You okay? You okay, dear?” King asked Cooper as the three laughed. “Clean up on aisle three!”
