Gayle King, the CBS News anchor who has been there for the longest time, shared the picture of her smiling with the Fox News host, Jesse Watters during a flight which poled a heavy wave of disapproval. Her post about the four-hour flight next to a rival network commentator was immediately considered with a loud disapproval and questioning from her followers regarding the nature of the meeting considering the political commentary by Watters.
The photo of the two suggested a bond between these TV personalities, with King saying, “Everybody had a blast! Hi Jesse… saving your number!” The jocular nature, however, was not understood as a joke for a huge part of her audience. The audience reaction was swift and largely negative, with many saying they were let down, and one even charged King with not being in the picture.
A user who was extremely critical wrote, “I respect and love you, Gayle,” and then went on to express the opposite point of view very clearly. “Your seat mate, however, is harming our country…,” The comment was corroborated by another, “Read the room Gayle… you should have kept this to yourself… there is no tolerance for his racism and bigotry…” The critiques often highlighted the presumed ideological rift between King’s public persona and the fiery rhetoric of Watters.
The public disapproval was not only due to the political disagreement but also to the matter of principle. One user, who made a long post, expressed the very motive behind the post as perplexing and asked, “Curious the thought process with this post? It’s one thing to support opposing views. But when the individual loathes, ridicules, lies and vilifies all that you stand for how do you grin and bear it??” This user powerfully framed the encounter as a betrayal, comparing it to “grinning for a selfie with the leader of the Proud Boys.” Although the analogy was extreme, it did capture the extent of anger that some followers felt.
Sarcasm was also one of the methods that critics chose to express their opinions widely. One tweeter wrote, “It was so fun to sit next to my new friend who promotes misogyny and racism for a living. What is happening?” Their incredulity was almost palpable. Another gave a more graphic response: “I’d probably explode like a lithium battery in flight. How did you not accidentally bonk it on the head with your suitcase?” Such comments revealed the very real emotional reaction that the post created.
In the middle of the storm of criticism, a few voices came out to defend King, saying that she had acted in the most polite way possible. One follower, for example, praised her for promoting togetherness and granting her the compliment: “Reminder we all have to coexist people!!! ✌🏽Showing human decency when (last time I checked), we can’t pick our own seat mates, is why you’re the best Gayle.” Another simply stated, “ADULTING DONE RIGHT. U DON’T HAVE TO AGREE TO BE RESPECTFUL.” That was one opinion that King’s actions were a mature example of how to deal with political differences.
Still, those who showed their support for King were immensely outnumbered. Many thought that she had committed a huge blunder. “This is really not cute at all,” one user plainly stated. Another warned, “U still got time to delete this sis,” suggesting that the post was damaging her image. The phrase, “Not the flex you think it is!” was mentioned many times and this indicates that King made an incorrect presumption about how the people would take her friendship with Watters.
Some critics took the occasion to bring up comparisons between this case and past incidents, with one pointing out, “Well her buddy, Oprah gave us ‘doctors’ Oz & McGraw … so this makes perfect sense.” Such a comment carried over the past associations into the present controversy and was a way of depicting King’s action as a part of a persistent trend of questionable alliances. The reaction, in its severity, showed that for many of her followers the personal and political are intertwined and that being civil to certain people is no different than being accomplices.
The whole scenario regarding Gayle King’s airplane picture serves as a reminder of the media and politics being deeply polarized. While one sees it as a mere human decency act, another sees it as a grave moral failure. The case illustrates the tremendous pressure public figures are under and the almost impossibility of remaining neutral, hence one scorched earth policy to frontend of battle has been through the use of even a casual and friendly photo that can become a major cultural flashpoint and have a lasting impact on a journalist’s relationship with their audience. King’s recent style choices and her work with Adam Rippon show her diverse interests, while her joyful philosophy on aging contrasts sharply with this controversy.
