Gayle King Calls for ‘Due Process’ in #MeToo Cases: ‘The Man Instantly Gets the Death Penalty’

“All of these inappropriate behaviors are not all the same,” ‘CBS This Morning’ co-anchor says

Gayle King Charlie Rose CBS News
CBS

“CBS This Morning” co-anchor Gayle King argued for caution in the rush to judgement against men who find themselves accused of sexual misconduct.

“When a woman makes an accusation, the man instantly gets the death penalty,” King told The New York Times. “There has to be some sort of due process here. All of these inappropriate behaviors are not all the same.”

Despite King’s former co-host Charlie Rose’s pariah status over his own sexual misconduct, which led to his ouster from the CBS program, she still considers him a friend. Throughout the scandal, King had repeatedly said how difficult it was to hear accusations levied against Rose.

“I don’t believe in turning your back on a friend, even when a friend has done something you adamantly disagree with and you’re disappointed in,” she told the Times. “But I also know that you listen to women, and I don’t discount their stories, either.”

When Matt Lauer was fired from “Today” for sexual misconduct, NBC named Hoda Kodb to be Savannah Guthrie’s co-anchor, forming an all-female anchor desk. John Dickerson ended up replacing Rose, and that’s exactly how King wanted it.

“I really advocated bringing in another man,” she continued. “Could Norah [O’Donnell] and I have done it? Yep, but I’m glad that wasn’t the decision that was made.”

Read the full New York Times interview here.

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