Years ago, when rumors started swirling that Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey were secretly in a relationship, King tried to convince her longtime friend to address the rumors on her show – to no avail.
While talking with Alex Cooper on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, King explained how the rumors that she and Oprah were dating rather than just lifelong friends affected their relationship. When she urged Oprah to address the false rumors on her show, she was told they should just ignore them.
“Well, I’ll tell you this: It used to really bother me,” King said “I was recently divorced, and the National Enquirer did a story about that’s the reason for the divorce — because ‘they’re secretly gay.’ Number one, if we were gay, we would tell you. Believe me, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just I prefer a man.”
She added: “I would say to her, ‘You’ve got to say something on your show 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 got to say something.’ And she said, ‘No. We should just leave it be. Just leave it alone.’ [I said], ‘Well, that’s fine for you to say. You have somebody. I don’t.’ So it used to really bother me.”
King and Winfrey are coming up on 50 years of friendship, and the rumor mill about their connection being more than platonic has churned for decades. King went on to explain to Cooper that there are some days she’s find just ignoring the noise but other days the rumors – which persist to this day – where she wants to speak out more about their falsehoods.
“Sometimes when the noise gets too much, I feel, at least let me say my piece, whether it’s about that or something else, just so I’m on the record of it,” King said. “My thing is, always be prepared. Sometimes you can just say, ‘You know what? I don’t wanna talk about that,’ or, ‘I don’t have anything to say,’ or, ‘Good to see you.’ But I don’t wanna look like I’m running from something when I know I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Despite all that noise, King assured the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that her longtime friendship with Winfrey was as strong as ever. According to King, the longevity came from honesty and respect for one another.
I say I never see myself in her shadow. I always say I see myself in her light, and I do mean that,” she added. “I have never, not once thought, ‘God, I wish I could be her. I think I can do what she does,’ because I don’t believe that.”
