Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey marked 50 years of friendship. But there has been speculation for decades that the two are more than just friends. The CBS Mornings host broke her silence about lesbian rumors, admitting they bothered her for a long time. Keep reading for all the details on what started the rumors.
Gayle King Breaks Silence On Claims She’s A Lesbian
The way they tell it, Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King first met in 1976 in Baltimore, Maryland. The aspiring journalists were in their 20s at the time, both working at WJZ-TV. The two became lifelong friends, but the tabloids speculated for decades that the two were in a lesbian romantic relationship. The rumors persist on social media to this day.
Gayle King joined popular podcast Call Her Daddy this week. She addressed the rumors that she’s in a lesbian relationship head-on. She recalled that the National Enquirer started the rumors back in 1993 after her divorce.
“I was recently divorced and The National Enquirer did a story about, ‘That’s the reason for the divorce because they’re secretly gay,’” she told podcast host Alex Cooper. Gayle King and William Bumpus were married in 1982 but split in 1993 after she caught him cheating on her.
She continued, “Number one, if we were gay, we would tell you because believe me, there’s nothing wrong with it,” she added. “It’s just, I prefer a man. So, we would tell you.”
One of the main reasons it bothered her was because the rumors negatively hurt her dating life. However, her best friend didn’t seem to care.
Oprah Winfrey Refused To Shut Down Rumors
Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey are best friends who would do almost anything for each other. Almost. The CBS Mornings host revealed on the podcast that her bestie refused to address the rumors about their relationship.
“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 gotta say something,’” Gayle King shared.
But Oprah Winfrey, who has been in a long-term relationship with Stedman Graham for 40 years, refused. “And she said, ‘No, we should just leave it be,’” Gayle King claimed.
The morning TV show host admitted that the rumors used to bother her, but not anymore. “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 said.
Despite Gayle King’s strong denial, rumors continue to circulate on social media that she’s in a lesbian relationship with Oprah Winfrey. Tell us if you think the friends will ever live down the rumors.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger
