Gayle King regrets speaking out about Oprah Winfrey amid her health crisis. She wanted to reassure viewers, but she ended up causing a bit of a panic.
Oprah was hospitalized due to a severe stomach virus. King spoke with Oprah following her announcement on TV, and she wanted to make sure that she didn't offend the iconic host.
"No, I thought what you were trying to do is explain why I wasn't there, and doing that in a definitive way," Winfrey reassured her. King regretted how the headlines got away from her.
She said, "I never said you were hospitalized. I did say that you had a stomach something, it was coming out of both sides, which it was." However, that's not necessarily true. King did say, "I won't get too graphic. Needless to say, she ended up in the hospital, dehydration, had to get an IV."
Likewise, Oprah confirmed that she went to the emergency room. She said, "I couldn't keep enough water down to get hydrated. So I went to the emergency room for that and that's just it." Meanwhile, King observed that Oprah still looked pretty sick. The TV host agreed, "I'm not 100 [percent]. I'm on my way to 100."
Gayle King And Oprah Talk
According to Oprah, several members of her family had been sick. She said, "Five people in my household had the same thing. I would say keep your hands washed because I hear it's being transmitted through... The doctor told me that [the virus] lives on the doorknobs and railings for like, ten hours. So if you come across somebody who's been in the house and they've gone down the stairs, then you went down the stairs and you didn't wash your hands you end up with it."
However, King still felt bad about everything. She said she was just trying to explain why Oprah was absent. She said, "The only point I was trying to make is to show how badly you wanted to be there to promote the book 'cause you never miss those. The point I was trying to make, America, is that it had to be something that would keep her from getting on a plane and coming. That's the only point I was trying to make."
She continued, "I didn't really think that it was a big deal or that it would be something that would be upsetting to you, otherwise I never would have said it."
