November 2024

Gayle King is an award-winning journalist and co-host of CBS MORNINGS. She is also editor-at-large of Oprah Daily and hosts “Gayle King in the House,” a live, weekly radio show on SiriusXM.

In a career spanning decades, King has been recognized as a gifted, compassionate interviewer able to break through the noise and create meaningful conversations. She’s equally adept at talking with world leaders and top entertainment stars as well as regular people thrust into the news. She’s also anchored the broadcast from around the world for breaking news and historical events.

King joined CBS News in 2011 and has since conducted revealing interviews including with former President Barack Obama; Bruce Springsteen; Dave Chappelle; Barbara Streisand; Bradley Cooper; Ed Sheeran; Angela Bassett; Cherelle Griner; Chris Rock; Elon Musk; Billie Eilish; R. Kelly; and Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, in their first TV interview together. She also conducted the last interviews with Representative John Lewis and Cicely Tyson before their passing.

Her empathetic approach to her work at CBS MORNINGS has made it the destination for people reluctant to sit for interviews to tell their stories. For example, she has had exclusive interviews with Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, Tiffany Chen, Megan Thee Stallion, Cherelle Griner, wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner, then held in a Russian prison, and Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police in their home.

Her 2019 interview with singer R. Kelly made international headlines when he exploded during their sit-down and was featured in a primetime special. She later interviewed Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage, two women who lived with Kelly in Chicago at the time and were at the center of the controversy surrounding the singer.

King led CBS News’ on-the-ground coverage from the Texas border to report on the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy. She reported from Newtown, Conn. in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. She co-anchored CBS News’ special coverage of several breaking news stories, including the Paris terrorist attacks, the San Bernardino shootings, the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage and the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. She co-anchored live broadcasts from Cleveland and Philadelphia for the 2016 Republican and Democratic Conventions, from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. prior to the museum’s opening. She moderated CBS News’ 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate in Charleston and co-anchored CBS News’ election night 2020 coverage. She also co-anchored CBS News’ coverage of the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Additionally, King has anchored multiple primetime specials, including “The Gayle King Grammy Special.” “BET News and Facebook Present: COVID-19: Black America’s Fight”; CBS News’ special on racism and police brutality “Justice for All”; “John Lewis: Celebrating a Hero”; BET’s “Say Her Name: The Untold Story of Breonna Taylor”; the BET primetime exclusive special “Cicely Tyson: In Her Own Words,” honoring the life and legacy of the iconic actress; “Meghan and Harry Plus One”; “The Queen Carries On: A Gayle King Special”; “The Chauvin Verdict”; and “Tulsa 1921: An American Tragedy.”

King previously co-anchored with Charles Barkley, “King Charles,” a weekly, one-hour prime-time program on CNN. King also hosted “The Gayle King Show,” a live, weekday television interview program on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. The program, which featured a discussion of a broad variety of topics that included politics and cultural developments, was also broadcast on XM Satellite Radio, where it premiered in 2006.

Before that, King worked for 18 years as an anchor for CBS affiliate WFSB-TV in Hartford, Conn., during which she also hosted her own syndicated daytime program. Prior to joining WFSB, King worked at several other television stations, including WDAF-TV in Kansas City, Mo., WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Md., and WTOP-TV in Washington, D.C.

King has received numerous awards for her work, including three Emmys. Most recently, King was honored with a Gracie Award for On Air News Talent and received the 39^th Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism presented by Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. In 2018 she was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and in 2019 she was selected for the TIME 100, Time magazine’s annual list of the hundred most influential people in the world. In 2024, King was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit’s 60^th anniversary magazine.

She’s mother to favorite daughter, Kirby, and favorite son Will, and she currently resides in New York City.