Gayle King has now publicly thrown doubt on the idea that her little corner of CBS News is currently being subjected to the same maelstrom of Bari Weiss-scented chaos floating over the rest of the organization. The CBS Mornings host gave an interview to TMZ on Friday where she pushed back on reports that she’d soon be leaving/ousted from her position, saying, “What I’m hearing in the building is not what I’m reading in the press… All I’ve been told by everybody in this building is that they want me here, they like the job I’m doing, I like the job I’m doing.”
King’s comments line up with a formal press statement from CBS News itself, which said earlier this week through a spokesperson that “There have been no discussions with Gayle about her contract that runs through May 2026. She’s a truly valued part of CBS and we look forward to engaging with her about the future.”
Rumors surrounding King leaving her position at the top of CBS’s broadcast day—which she’s held down since 2012, back when the show was still called CBS This Morning—began circulating earlier this week, amid a wave of layoffs and resignations shortly after Weiss was installed at the head of CBS News. That included news that King’s counterparts on Mornings‘ Saturday edition, Michelle Miller and Dana Jacobson, were being let go from the company, followed by Variety reporting that King was expected to exit her role early next week. (Possibly with an eye toward being installed elsewhere in the CBS News hierarchy, and possibly producing her own programming.)
It’s not clear if what’s happening now is a bit of behind-the-scenes politicking that Variety got wind of—King did pointedly note in her TMZ interview that “What I’m not going to do is negotiate in the media”—or if she’s genuinely seen as a solid spot in a CBS News line-up that currently feels like it’s in danger of being shaken apart by the new bosses. We’ll presumably know more in the coming weeks—and then especially next May, once King’s current contract expires.
[via THR]
