Oprah Winfrey And Gayle King Address Lesbian Rumors: “We’d Tell You!”
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King have addressed the longstanding rumor that they are secretly a lesbian couple. Speaking with Melinda French Gates for her Moments That Make Us interview series, the two ladies dispel the myth that they are actually lovers.
“I think we’ve shared pretty much everything and I would have to say, it wasn’t even a matter of navigation,” Winfrey detailed. “You know, for years, people used to say we were gay, and listen, we were up against that forever. And people still may think it.”
“I used to say Oprah, ‘You gotta do a show on this because it’s hard enough for me to get a date on Saturday night with people thinking we’re gay,’” King added. “Because if we were gay, we’d tell you!”
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King attend at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 11, 2024 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The women continued to reflect on their decades together, as the host applauded their “deep, true friendships.”
“I think you’re right Melinda, because one of the things I’ve started to think was maybe people aren’t accustomed to seeing women with this kind of truth bond,” Winfrey explained. “Meaning, the reason why I think our friendship has worked is because Gayle is happier, not happy, happier for me for any kind of success or victory than I am for myself.”
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King attend the 3rd Annual Academy Museum Gala at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 03, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Rodin Eckenroth/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
Per Oprah Daily,the two ladies formed an immediate connection as young journalists on the rise. They met in 1976 when Winfrey was an anchor and King was a production assistant at Baltimore’s WJZ station.
One night during a snow storm, Winfrey invited King to spend the night due to dangerous road conditions hindering her from returning home, and that’s where it all began.
“We became friends that first night because for the first time, I met somebody who I felt was like me,” King remembered. “I’d never met anybody like that. Certainly not another Black girl. I grew up in an all-white community.”
(L-R) Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King attend the “Sidney” Premiere during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall on September 10, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images
“It’s that whole being-the-odd-girl-out thing—we didn’t fit into everybody else’s perception of what it’s like to be a Black girl,” Winfrey added.
Check out Melinda French Gates in her Moments That Make Us episode with Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King below.
