Gayle King raised eyebrows with her use of an uncensored gay slur during a live broadcast of “CBS Mornings.”
The Emmy Award-winning anchor interviewed comedian Matteo Lane on Thursday to promote his new cookbook, “Your Pasta Sucks,” when she said the epithet commonly used against gay men.
“Can we talk about the stand-up? Can I just say one joke? I hope I don’t get in trouble,” King, 70, said while discussing the comedian’s irreverent style of humor. “You do a riff about white women who approached you, and they said something about cooking, and you said, ‘What in the f—-try are you talking about?’”
Lane, who is openly gay, laughed it off as King continued: “I thought that was hilarious. What does that mean?”
The 38-year-old funnyman responded: “I love you, Gayle King. It means exactly what you think it means. White women, they’re fine during the day, and then they have one sip of a rosé and they’re like, ‘Tonight’s about me!’ They won’t stop, I’m telling you. Horrible.”
CBS did not censor the word during the live broadcast or when the video was initially uploaded to YouTube.
However, the network deleted the clip and later reposted an edited version Friday afternoon, though uncensored recordings have still been making the rounds on social media.
King, who identifies as heterosexual, has for decades fought back rumors of a lesbian affair with her longtime bestie Oprah Winfrey. She more recently addressed the long-brewing gay rumors in a 2024 interview on Melinda French Gates‘ podcast, “Moments That Make Us.”
“I used to say to Oprah, ‘You’ve gotta do a show on this. ‘Cause it’s hard enough for me to get a date on Saturday night with people thinking we’re gay,’” King said. “If we were gay, we’d tell you.”
