![LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 03: (L-R) Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King attend the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures 3rd Annual Gala Presented by Rolex at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 03, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Academy Museum of Motion Pictures )](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-1830007952_56f56f-e1722014600969.jpg?resize=384%2C216)
![Gayle King
'The Morning Show' TV show premiere, Arrivals, Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall, New York, USA - 28 Oct 2019](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gayle-king-gallery-01.jpg?fit=293%2C440)
![Gayle King and William Bumpus Jr.
World Premiere of "CATS", New York, USA - 16 Dec 2019](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gayle-king-kids-ss-03.jpg?fit=293%2C440)
![Kirby Bumpus, Gayle King and son William Bumpus Jr..
Tyler Perry Studios Grand Opening, Arrivals, Atlanta, USA - 05 Oct 2019](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gayle-king-kids-ss-02.jpg?fit=360%2C440)
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King are just allies of the LGBTQ+ community.
As Winfrey, 70, and King, 69, appeared on Melinda French Gates‘ Moments That Make Us interview series on Wednesday, July 24, the duo—who have been best friends for nearly 50 years—spoke with Gates, 59, about their relationship and emphasized that if there was anything more to tell, they would.
“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 bond.
“You know, for years, people used to say we were gay, and listen,” Oprah recalled. “[We] were up against that forever. And people still may think it.”
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King Address Gay Relationship Rumors. pic.twitter.com/1QJjIuIYH2
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) July 25, 2024
Gayle then interjected on how it has affected their dating life.
“I used to say [Oprah], ‘You gotta do a show on this,’” Gayle added. “Because it’s hard enough for me to get a date on Saturday night with people thinking we’re gay.”
Gayle—who shares kids Kirby, 38, and William Jr., 37, with ex-husband William Bumpus—emphasized the struggle with the continuity of the rumors, noting, “If we were gay, we would tell you.”
Winfrey then pointed out that she believes those rumors swirl because people “aren’t used to seeing women with this kind of true bond.”
“The reason why I think our friendship has worked is because Gayle is happier—not happy—for me in any kind of success or victory or challenge I get through than I am for myself.”
![NEW YORK CITY - APRIL 17: Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King attend First Anniversary Party for O Magazine on April 17, 2001 at Cipriani in New York City. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-110789714.jpg?quality=100&w=640&resize=594%2C949)
Oprah and Gayle’s bond has proven stronger than most friendships, dating back some 50 years. It began when both women worked at the Baltimore-area news station WJZ-TV.
“We bonded because we had very like philosophies,” Gayle reflected. “We were so in sync about so many different things, and I’d never met anybody like that.”
Oprah—who met her lifetime partner Stedman Graham in 1986—went on to build an empire with The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ran for 25 years until 2011. And Gayle has been happy to be by her side through it all.
“Who doesn’t want to be her best friend?” Gayle previously told the New York Times.
“If I didn’t think I brought something to the table, or if I wasn’t secure enough with myself then maybe it would bother me. But you know, I’ve been anchoring the news for a long time. I won three Emmys. I’ve proven that I can do that. I never feel I’m in her shadow. I feel I’m in her light, that’s how I look at it.”