Gayle King: He Cheated with My Best Friend
Alex Cooper interviews veteran CBS Morning anchor Gayle King on the Call Her Daddy podcast, covering their 50-year friendship with Oprah Winfrey, Gayle's experience discovering her ex-husband's affair with her best friend, career milestones including the R. Kelly interview, navigating sexism and racism in broadcasting, and her outlook on aging and dating.
Summary
The episode opens with Alex Cooper and Gayle King reminiscing about a previous viral moment when Gayle asked Alex about her favorite sex position on live CBS Mornings, setting a candid and humorous tone. Gayle describes her demanding morning routine, waking at 3:24 AM for a 4-hour sleep cycle, taking a daily bath, and heading to the studio for meetings and hair and makeup before the show goes live.
A major portion of the conversation centers on Gayle's 50-year friendship with Oprah Winfrey, which began during a snowstorm in Baltimore when they were both young, single women working at the same news station — Gayle as a production assistant and Oprah as an anchor. They stayed up all night talking and discovered shared philosophies, forming a bond that has endured ever since. Gayle rejects the narrative that she lives in Oprah's shadow, saying instead that she lives in Oprah's light, and explains that their different personalities — Gayle being more socially driven, Oprah more content at home — have never bred jealousy. She also addresses longstanding rumors about the nature of their relationship, stating plainly that she prefers men and that people who have experienced true deep friendship understand the bond without needing to sexualize it.
Gayle then shares the detailed and emotionally raw story of discovering her ex-husband's affair. She describes coming home unexpectedly after a flight cancellation to find her husband in a towel, blocking her entry, before discovering her close friend hiding naked behind a door wearing Gayle's own bath towel. She recounts the woman telling her that her husband didn't love her and was only with her for the children and lifestyle — a statement Gayle admits she nearly believed in the moment. The police arrived due to the triggered alarm and asked for her autograph. Oprah was her first and only call that night. Gayle later called the friend's husband, who had been preemptively told by his wife that Gayle would call with false accusations, leading him to call Gayle 'delusional and out of touch with reality' — to which she responded with profanity before hanging up. Gayle also discloses that she reconciled with her ex-husband and attempted to repair the marriage through counseling, but eventually left after recognizing he was cheating again and that she was losing herself through compulsive monitoring behavior.
The conversation shifts to Gayle's career, including early lessons about standing out in the workplace through genuine curiosity and preparation. She discusses navigating sexism in a male-dominated industry, including an executive commenting on her hair and another telling her to scoot closer to the desk because her body was 'distracting.' She notes that while she now has no problem confronting inappropriate behavior directly, she acknowledges that younger women in earlier career stages must read the room carefully before speaking up, echoing Michelle Obama's similar advice.
Gayle reflects on her high-profile R. Kelly interview, explaining that she remained calm because she genuinely didn't fear being hit intentionally, and that she strategically stayed still to avoid giving him a reason to walk out before she finished her questions. She mentions she has not spoken to him since and would only want to if he were willing to have an honest conversation.
On aging, Gayle expresses that she once sent a letter to AARP asking to be removed from their mailing list when she turned 50 but now regrets that attitude, embracing the idea that life can be full and 'juicy like a peach' at any age. She says she lives 'full gallop' and has no intention of retiring. In a rapid-fire dating segment, she reveals she is looking for a younger man — not someone she could have given birth to, but closer to Tom Brady's age — who is big, fun, kind, and has a sense of humor. Finally, when asked what she is most proud of, Gayle says it is her two children, Kirby and Will, who grew up with significant privilege but remain grounded, humble, and kind.
Key Insights
- Gayle King argues that her 50-year friendship with Oprah has never produced jealousy because she genuinely believes she cannot do what Oprah does, and sees herself as living in Oprah's light rather than her shadow.
- Gayle claims she had no prior suspicion of her husband's affair, contradicting the common assumption that 'the wife always knows,' and says the betrayal required catching them in the act to be believable.
- Gayle recounts that her husband's affair partner told her to her face that her husband didn't love her and was only staying for the children and lifestyle — a statement Gayle admits she nearly accepted as true in the moment.
- Gayle argues that when a betraying partner feels comfortable enough to demean you in front of their affair partner, it is evidence of how extensively they have spoken negatively about you behind closed doors — a realization Oprah surfaced for her.
- Gayle states that she stayed in her marriage after the affair partly because of her children but also because she didn't want to disrupt a stable life she had built, eventually leaving only after recognizing she was losing herself through anxious surveillance of her husband.
- Gayle describes her ex-husband as deeply threatened by her professional prominence, recalling that he once said 'I'll be glad when this Gayle King shit is over,' despite her doing everything from running his bathwater to paying for his Yale Law School education.
- Gayle argues that Oprah's spidey sense about people is almost always correct, illustrating this with a story in which a high school boyfriend Oprah warned her about turned out to be a cocaine addict who photographed Gayle sleeping and tried to sell the pictures to the National Enquirer.
- Gayle claims that during the R. Kelly interview, she remained deliberately still when he was screaming and physically agitated because she believed any movement from her would give him a reason to walk out before she finished her questions.
- Gayle states that she stood by and witnessed CBS executives make comments about her natural hair and her postpartum body, but at the time processed these not as discrimination but simply as workplace friction, only later recognizing them as sexist and racist.
- Gayle argues that while women should never tolerate abuse in the workplace, early-career women must pragmatically assess their position before speaking up, echoing Michelle Obama's framing that the calculus differs depending on one's power and job security.
- Gayle contends that true friendship is defined by an extremely small, nearly unbreachable circle of trust, arguing that even if she and Oprah had a falling out today, she would never write a book or publicly disclose private information, because being in someone's inner circle is a sacred privilege.
- Gayle claims that when she turned 50, she asked AARP to remove her from their mailing list, but now regrets that reaction and actively wants to send the message that women can thrive, be 'juicy like a peach,' and live fully at any age.
Topics
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