Gayle King Is Officially Out Of Oprah’s Shadow
By Chloe Cornell
Gayle King has always been a superstar, and while it is certainly not an insult to be known as “Oprah Winfrey’s bestie,” that was often the first description people would use when King’s name was mentioned. While she has been a journalist for over four decades and was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2018, having been an Emmy-winning news anchor in Hartford, a special correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show, editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine, a special correspondent for Good Morning America, and co-anchor CBS This Morning since January 2012, it was her bombshell interview with R. Kelly that seemed to suddenly change her status and launch her into her own individual spotlight. That March 2019 interview, which had 7,201,553 views on youtube and was one of the top trending stories worldwide on Twitter, was a masterful display of journalism as King remained completely calm as R.Kelly exploded and paced menacingly around the set, aggressively claiming his innocence against numerous claims of sexual abuse.
CBS, which was struggling under a cloud of scandal and significant executive firings after #MeToo fallout against chief executive Leslie Moonves, morning anchor Charlie Rose and executive producer of “60 minutes” Jeff Fager, quickly recognized the valuable star power of King and was ready to give her whatever she wanted to stay at the network. King’s contract was renewed making her co-anchor of the redesigned CBS This Morning, now under executive producer Diana Miller.
In addition to improved ratings for the redesigned morning show, King has continued to deliver for the network and scored another major coup getting exclusive access to Prince Harry and Meghan Markel’s baby reveal. King was the only American broadcaster to join the British press for the first reveal of royal baby Archie, secured because of her friendship with the Sussexs, having attended their wedding and Meghan’s baby shower in Manhattan.
King was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2019. Here’s to more great things to come out of this talented woman.
LaTanya Richardson
By Caroline Antonacci
LaTanya Richardson is an American actress and producer. Beginning her career on off-Broadway, she now plays supporting roles on television and in films. One of Richardson’s biggest roles was in 2003 when she was in the musical The Fighting Temptations when she played the main antagonist Paulina Pritchett. Richardson was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her 2013 performance of Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun. Recently, La Tanya Richardson plays Calpurnia in Broadway’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Married to Samuel Jackson, Richardson and Jackson have a daughter together, Zoe Jackson. Some of Richardson’s main performances on screen include: Fried Green Tomatoes, Malcolm X, Sleepless in Seattle, When a Man Loves a Woman, Losing Isaiah, Lone Star, U.S. Marshals, The Fighting Temptations, Show Me a Hero, Luke Cage, and a regular role on the crime drama Rebel.
