Oprah Winfrey is opening up about her decades-long friendship with Gayle King.
On Wednesday (July 25), Winfrey and King reflected on their close bond during an appearance on Melinda French Gates’ Moments That Make Us interview series. The media mogul, who has been with partner Stedman Graham for more than 35 years, didn’t shy away from addressing the longstanding rumors that she and King are more than just friends.
“I think we’ve shared pretty much everything and I would have to say, it wasn’t even a matter of navigation,” Winfrey explained. “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.”
The friends have discussed the gossip privately over the years, with King jokingly calling on Winfrey to clarify the rumors because they were affecting her love life.
“I used to say Oprah, ‘You gotta do a show on this,’” King added. “‘Because it’s hard enough for me to get a date on Saturday night with people thinking we’re gay.’ Because if we were gay, we would tell you.”
Oprah Winfrey Reflects On What Sparked Relationship Rumors
Winfrey believes the speculation stems from a lack of understanding of their friendship.
“Maybe people aren’t accustomed to seeing women with this kind of truth bond,” she offered. “Gayle is happier, not happy, but happier for me for any kind of success or victory or challenge I get through than I am for myself. And I feel as happy as she does—I can’t be happier than, cannot surpass Gayle. You cannot out-happy her. I am equally as happy for her.”
Ultimately, Winfrey believes a friendship cannot thrive with “with anybody who has a hint of jealousy about anything that you’re doing—certainly about your success or your being celebrated.”
Oprah and Gayle discuss the rumors that they’re secretly a lesbian couple and say they’d tell us if they actually were. pic.twitter.com/TXr5NaZgyS
— 🔊💦 (@SpeakerLeaks) July 26, 2024
The besties met early in their careers while working at the Baltimore-area news station WJZ-TV. In an interview for O, The Oprah Magazine, King recalled how Oprah came through for her during a snowstorm.
“We became friends that first night because for the first time, I met somebody who I felt was like me,” Gayle said. “I’d never met anybody like that. Certainly not another Black girl. I grew up in an all-white community.”