{"id":2434826,"date":"2026-05-27T23:34:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2434826"},"modified":"2026-05-27T23:34:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:34:58","slug":"gayle-king-addresses-oprah-winfrey-relationship-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/gayle-king-addresses-oprah-winfrey-relationship-rumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Gayle King Addresses Oprah Winfrey Relationship Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Gayle King opened up this week about the decades-long rumors that she and Oprah Winfrey are involved in a secret romantic relationship. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The longtime journalist, 71, appeared on Wednesday\u2019s episode of the \u201c<\/span>Call Her Daddy<\/span><\/a>\u201d podcast and responded after host Alex Cooper asked her, \u201cTell me how that feels when you guys have had to handle those headlines, handle those rumors, handle that speculation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt used to really bother me,\u201d King confessed. \u201cI was recently divorced, and there was \u2014 \u2018The National Enquirer\u2019 did a story… \u2018That\u2019s the reason for the divorce, because they\u2019re secretly gay.\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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King was referring to her <\/span>1993 divorce<\/a> from attorney William Bumpus<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cNumber one, if we were gay, we would tell you because, believe me, there\u2019s nothing wrong with it. It\u2019s just, I prefer a man,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The CBS host said the gossip escalated so much that she asked Winfrey to personally shut down the rumors, but they butted heads over it. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Oprah<\/div>\n
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King first became friends in 1976 while working together at WJZ-TV in Baltimore. <\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cI would say to her, \u2018You\u2019ve got to say something on your show, because it\u2019s hard enough for me to get a date on a Saturday night and now people think I\u2019m a lesbian, you\u2019ve got to say something,\u2019\u201d King recalled. She said Winfrey told her she thought the better route was to ignore the hearsay and \u201cleave it alone.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI said, \u2018Well, that\u2019s fine for you to say. You have somebody. I don\u2019t,\u2019\u201d King said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cSo it used to really bother me. And now, even today, there\u2019s still people that say, \u2018Well, you know, the truth is…\u2019 I don\u2019t care,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019ve now gotten to the point in my life that very few things get to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Winfrey, who has been friends with King for 50 years, previously shut down the rumors<\/a> about their connection in the August 2006 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, but noted that she can \u201cunderstand why people think we\u2019re gay.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cSomething about this relationship feels otherworldly to me, like it was designed by a power and a hand greater than my own,\u201d Oprah said. \u201cWhatever this friendship is, it\u2019s been a very fun ride \u2014 and we\u2019ve taken it together.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Watch King\u2019s interview on \u201cCall Her Daddy\u201d below. Skip to the 23:27 mark to hear her comments about the rumors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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