Oprah & Gayle
In the August issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, Oprah Winfrey writes that she knows there’s speculation about her and Gayle King – but insists they’re simply the best of friends.
“I understand why people think we’re gay,” Oprah says in an excerpt of the article provided to the Associated Press. “There isn’t a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it – how can you be this close without it being sexual?”
Gayle, who is an editor at O, also contributes to the essay, and says she and Oprah would tell the public if they were actually a couple: “The truth is, if we were gay, we would tell you, because there’s nothing wrong with being gay.”
Oprah echoes that sentiment saying, “I’ve told nearly everything there is to tell. All my stuff is out there. People think I’d be so ashamed of being gay that I wouldn’t admit it? Oh, please.”
Oprah, 52, and Gayle, 51, say their friendship of 30 years includes “four-times-a-day phone calls.” The pair first met in 1976 when Gayle was a production assistant at Baltimore’s WJZ and Winfrey was an anchor there.
“Something about this relationship feels otherworldly to me, like it was designed by a power and a hand greater than my own,” Winfrey writes. “Whatever this friendship is, it’s been a very fun ride.”
Oprah lives with her boyfriend of 20 years, Stedman Graham. Gayle is divorced and has a son and a daughter. But are they lovers?