Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King are setting rumors straight -- literally. Winfrey, 70, and King, 69, have a decades-long friendship that some people speculate is romantic. When the two appeared on Melinda French Gates' Moments That Make Us interview series on Wednesday, the women cleared the air about their close friendship.
"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," Winfrey said. "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!" The longtime pals ' relationship dates back some 50 years and began when they both worked at the Baltimore-area news station WJZ-TV. And they have a snowstorm to thank for their friendship. The story goes King couldn't get home one night due to the inclement weather, and it was Winfrey who invited King to stay at her place that night.
They bonded like sisters, and the rest is history. While speaking with Gates, Winfrey pointed out that she believes lesbian rumors swirl because people "aren't used to seeing women with this kind of truth bond." "I think we've shared pretty much everything and I would have to say, it wasn't even a matter of navigation," Winfrey said of their friendship.
She later noted, "The reason why I think our friendship has worked is because Gayle is happier, not happy, but happier for me for any k.