Gayle King, YouTube screenshot, The Pivot, Jan. 25, 2024
Gayle King, co-anchor of “CBS This Morning,” recently received backlash from Black American men after sharing one of her dating experiences. In an interview on The Pivot Podcast, King, 69, revealed her reluctance to financially support a romantic partner, leading to heated discussions about gender roles and expectations within relationships.
The discussion stemmed from King’s account of a past dating encounter where her date, a man she had dated for a few months, reportedly earning a six-figure income, requested a loan of $4,000 for child support and furniture payments, The New York Post reported.
“I went on a date. I was really excited, very excited about it,” she said. “We’d gone out maybe two months and then he said he really needed to talk to me. He wanted to have a private conversation…[he said,] ‘Do you think you could lend me $4,000?’ I’m like, oh God.”
King’s reaction, coupled with Oprah Winfrey’s candid response to the situation, stirred debates on social media platforms and among Black American communities, The Grio reported.
“You know what Oprah said, ‘God, I would have felt better if he had said $40,000,” King explained. “I was so crushed because he was somebody who was making, you know, six figures, successful. And when I said, you know, could I ask what it’s for? He said, Yeah, it was for a child support issue and to pay a payment on some furniture. [And I said to myself] ‘Oh God, this is just getting worse.’”
While she did lend him the cash and he paid her back on time, King, who said she has a preference of dating Black men, said her view of him changed and she no longer wanted to date him. King divorced her husband, Bill Bumpus, a Connecticut assistant attorney general, in 1993, after catching him, she claims, in bed with another woman.
Trey said of King’s dating experience, “So in other words, she gets to pick and choose when she wants to fulfill her duties but he has to be a man at all times.”
Ernest Barnett gave King some slack, tweeting, “I see both sides of the argument. I’ll just say if she ever has a time of need whether it’s money or just a shoulder to cry on…. She needs to remember this.”
Billy D tweeted, “it was funny bc she told the story right after saying dating isnt about money. lol’
“She know damn well the only person she’s ever dated doesn’t need a loan to payback child support since they have no kids….,” Lhova tweeted.
Some thought she missed out on a good man, especially since she said up to that paid she liked him. Rpyce wynn tweeted, “I think Gayle King fumbled true love by not dating the guy who borrowed 4k.”
Dad pointed out a double standard. Dad tweeted, “I just now saw the Gayle King shit. She was dating a nigga for a few months & he asked her to borrow $4,000. He paid her back but she “didn’t feel the same” after this scenario. But women will ask a man for money 45 minutes after they meet em & that’s cool”.
Gayle King, YouTube screenshot, The Pivot, Jan. 25, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_BSGLCTajo
