Gayle King is opening up about the persistent rumors surrounding her friendship with Oprah Winfrey. During a recent episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, the CBS Mornings co-host shared her thoughts on how these speculations have impacted her over the years and why Winfrey never felt the need to address them publicly on television.
King revealed that the rumors used to deeply affect her. She recalled a time when the National Enquirer published a story suggesting that her recent divorce was due to the fact that she and Winfrey were secretly gay.
“I used to be really bothered by it,” she said. “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. I prefer a man.”
King admitted that she once urged Winfrey to tackle the rumors directly during an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. She felt the gossip was affecting her dating life, so she insisted that Winfrey address the issue.
“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.
According to King, Winfrey didn’t think the rumors were worth addressing and encouraged her to simply ignore them. Though the situation frustrated King at the time, she now says she no longer lets online opinions affect her.
“I’ve now gotten to the point in my life that very few things get to me. Because, you know, when you go on social media, it is an accelerator on hate,” she explained.
“I feel good about what I’m doing, the people I respect and trust are OK with it — who will say, ‘Well, Mom, maybe you shouldn’t have done that,’ or somebody whose opinion I value,” she added. “Otherwise, you’ll drive yourself nuts. So now I really don’t care.”
The two longtime friends have often joked about the rumors over the years. In July 2024, during an interview series called “Moments That Make Us” hosted by Melinda French Gates, both women reflected on how long they’ve dealt with the speculation.
“I think we’ve shared pretty much everything and I would have to say, it wasn’t even a matter of navigation,” Winfrey said at the time. “You know, for years, people used to say we were gay, and listen, we were up against that forever. And people still may think it.”
King playfully echoed the same sentiment during the conversation.
“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 Saturday night with people thinking we’re gay,’” she joked. “Because if we were gay, we’d tell you!”
The pair even poked fun at the rumors during a memorable 2010 camping episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, filmed in Yosemite National Park. As the two prepared to sleep inside a pop-up camper, King jokingly said, “Let’s just add to that lesbian rumor.” Without missing a beat, Winfrey replied, “Lesbian rumors!”
“Come on in, baby!” King teased.
Their decades-long friendship first began nearly 50 years ago while both were working at WJZ-TV in Baltimore. Winfrey previously revealed she invited King to stay at her apartment during a snowstorm when they were younger.
“We ended up talking all night long,” Winfrey told People. “We’ve literally been friends ever since.”
