Oprah's 2020 Vision Tour Visionaries: Gayle King Interview

I could literally start weeping right now because there are a few people in the world for whom I wouldn't be Who I am and I know that I didn't have the family that I thought I deserved when I was growing up and it's only after I met Gale that I finally found the mother the sister and friend in one person that I believed God wanted for me to me she's so much more than a visionary but I'm thrilled that she said yes at first she's like why what would I talk about what are we gonna talk about Denver please welcome rww 2020 visionary conversation yeah [Applause] I need to see you [Music] what you're talking about today hashtag happiness there's cocaine all right how many how many people in the house brought your own Gayle that is so great I say how many brought your own Oprah so when I was going through the list of names on deciding who would be the very last visionary interview on this tour I knew it had to be you for two reasons first you are I was worried you were worried you're the most well person I know I don't know anybody more well than you you don't get enough sleep but you are so well in spirit and I've never actually interviewed you like this before sorry are you nervous this is my happy face my favorite son and favorite daughter are here in the audience and I said guys I'm so nervous and said just think of it as a conversation with auntie oh and I'm trying to think of it that way but I am nervous yes I am why and I'm surprised I have to say I'm surprised that I am nervous talking to you about anything because they talked about everything yes everything so Gail and I were talking last week about what we wanted this conversation to feel like and Gail said you have to show that video of you picking me up at the airport and giving Kirby a horse back right this is Kirby's now 30 yeah Kirby's 33 okay so this is when Kirby was 9 months or something she wasn't even a year yet okay so why did you want us to show this because it's the first and last time that Oprah picked somebody up at the airport that was back in the day guys when you could actually meet people at the gate she drove she drove herself and certainly the last time that she's given anybody a horsey horsey ride so I thought that that was fun and that Stedman cooking in the kitchen oh yeah I remember that I know but look at us yeah look at that do you even remember that I do remember it because it is the last time I've given anyone a piggyback ride yes look at that video now did you ever imagine that we'd be sitting here talking in front of thousands of people in Denver 35 years later absolutely not I never imagined that you would be doing what you're doing you know when you when your career first started taking off and to see I remember you had an interview with Larry King and I said Oprah you the first half hour the second half hour she said on the whole hour I go he only does that for really big people I mean so so to see how it's happened so for us both to be sitting here 35 years later no I couldn't the very first time I went speaking remember that I think it was in like row Racine Wisconsin Gail Gail Gail was with me and so we're driving into the arena there was a police escort and then kills like who's coming and she said me I go when you go to speak this is what happens when you go to speak I said what do you talk about what are you saying what and so here we are all these years later you still talk and talking okay they'll talk III just said to the audience I got a little teary thinking about our friendship because I don't think about it a lot it's not that I take it for granted but it's also it just so is it's just so is a part of our life I was sharing with the audience that we've talked every day except for that one done your mom died and this is how nice scale is remember I told you she's nice Gail is so nice that on the day that her mother died I was having a dinner at my house with Denzel Washington tell Washington and and and Gail's mother passed away and it wasn't until like 10 o'clock at night she called me and she said is Dan's all gone and I said yeah and she said I lost my anchor today and I said what does that mean she said my mother passed away and I went why didn't you call me and she goes I didn't want to mess up the dinner with Denzel I did that is so nice I won't I wasn't even thinking about cuz I knew you were looking forward to that dinner and you know if somebody calls and you have to have a reaction then you have to go back and say okay I'll just call that it uh there's nothing anybody can do about it so I thought I would just wait yeah so I was saying to the audience too that all these years I've had therapy in front of the camera and I never needed therapy because I had you as my friend did you realize that all those years I was coming home I downloading downloading downloading but you know I never thought of it like that I just know that and we have talked about everything and nothing that's the thing people say what do you guys talk about we can honestly get off the phone go you've never had therapy but I've been to five therapists when I was married and may I just say this nobody has been a better therapist than Oprah in terms of the advice as someone who's never been married who's never been a parent nobody's but nobody's been a better therapist so I think it's good that we can do that for each other because you have certainly done that well this is interesting I was just you know I had to prepare for this interview so I was reading up on that to prepare yeah well what the producers sorry this interview yes I did and I wanted to prepare to see if there was something I hadn't heard or didn't know said there was something yes there was something no there wasn't the producers told me last night that that when you got divorced and so Gail went through a divorce yeah it was four and five yeah in 1994 yes I thought like I went to the divorce yes and at one point she was going to get back together with her husband I said please do because I feel like I have been dragged through this divorce no you know when you have her friend and you tell every little niggly detail neatly Piggly Wiggly detail yes I did and she kept saying to me you shouldn't it's a mistake it's a mistake finally she said please get back to it with him and I will send a moving truck and I said to her well you don't understand because you don't have children he was on his knees and he was crying and you said mm-hmm that doesn't mean anything Earl you just don't understand so she said please get back with him and I said I did I said get back with him and it's not gonna it will not last and I thought that was me sweet not gonna last because I was going in feel go ahead mystical this is what I didn't know I was read this last night that when you divorce you told Kirby and will that their father was at another house looking for a burglar yes know what what happened was whatever was we had moved into one house and another and I did say that Daddy has to go into the other house cuz there's a burglar and daddy's going to help catch the burglar so he's not going to be here for a while and then then we'll said to me later three weeks later his daddy caught the burglar yet I don't know he's still trying he's still trying because I couldn't bring myself to tell them that we were getting a divorce now I have to say I'm surprised that you said that you had never heard that story because over at the time you said that's a stupidest idea I've ever heard then that sound like you it does sound like Mia selling it's so stupid Africa I've heard this I'm like that doesn't even maybe it was so stupid you forgot I mean looking at it now I know it is funny guys when you hear it I'm embarrassed to tell you that that was the story cuz after watching The Oprah Show all these years they say you should just tell the kids the truth but tell them in layers that they get levels that they can understand but the time I don't know we just thought that was a good story to tell it was it was stupid I know you know why this is what I learned from The Oprah Show and Gayle watch every single Oprah show sometimes she would you know we tell each other the truth all the time I remember when one day I was in the middle of a meeting I get a phone call and they said Gayle it's an emergency she wants to talk to you get to the phone go ahead I get to the phone and I say what happened and you say I said I have a black eye because your boobs are hanging out it hit me on the TV I have a black eye what are you wearing [Applause] and that was another one there I ended my meeting for to get to the phone for you to tell me that my boob hit you in the eye there was another one no I got big breasteses good gracious breasteses you got him there is another time you had done Elizabeth Taylor in your hair you was sticking up and everything oh it looks so good it looks so good I know it looks like you put your hand in a socket I don't know why people are telling you that because I just don't think it looks so great but you do what you want to do which is what she does oh and you know what may I just say I don't think I've ever said you you were right about that Elizabeth Taylor photo you've never said that I'd never because you have said you thought you said I think it looks good it's called fashion that's what she told me she said I think it's good to change your hairdo as opposed to wearing the same hairdo every day like you do yeah so so this is what happened you know it's kind of like it's gonna I said that that I just said it in front of 15 is Denver thank you thank you or right you were right but you know the truth is I've said the same thing to you about your necklaces yes you have been known to wear a few necklaces at a time again I think I try not to wear necklaces and it does look like a mr. t starter kit but I think it's called accessorizing it's what I think yeah I'm not a necklace but he likes it they've asked me to do a necklace line I can't do it cuz I'm on the news but somebody likes it I just think it's called accessorizing Oprah's not a fan you watch her every morning and you see those big mirrors of one thank you so the thing that I admire and respect the most about you is the way you handle number one your divorce aside from that lie you tell your children the way you handle the divorce because it was one of those moments where you were taken by surprise and it's called infidelity yes you caught in your home never good yes that's what I said - no it was so bad that Gail called me the night that she'd come home with the children came home early and hadn't given a warning well this was in the days before remember when you didn't have cell phones and you would drive yourself to the airport and the airline used to call you and say your flight is canceled but we can get you on a flight if you leave right now remember those days so you know I threw the kids in the car we rushed to the airport I came home and I a day actually a day early he was not expecting he wasn't expecting to see me and I wasn't expecting to see her yes no no I didn't call you okay so guys so he leaves so Gail calls me and she says is Stedman in the room yeah I said yes she goes tell him to leave the room I don't want to hear this so Stedman goes into the bathroom no it's funny Oprah says I don't know what this is about but Gail wants you to leave the room number one who does that but I thought I didn't want I said listen you can tell him later but I didn't want him to hear it in pieces yeah because she just walked in yeah on the couple and at that moment I said you don't even know how bad this is because your husband had left to take the mistress to the to the train station yes and I said oh this is worse than you can ever imagine yep she was married and they were friends they were friends of ours yes which is always I hate that word mistress well I got engaged like no sort of so you know when they say the wife always knows the wife always suspects I tell you I really you know this I had no clue no clue whatsoever well I did I did have a clue remember that time a clue the clue was when I the clue was when I was at your house and the phone rang wasn't that a clue that was the phone ring and the woman on the other end asks to speak to her husband and I happen to answer the phone yeah and when her husband gets to the phone he says nobody's there nice he's stupid somebody was there and it has to speak there and I stood him in a very nice was to so we does a bold move when you think about it cuz she knew Oprah was there she knew what was there yeah and so that's just sort of a but here's the thing that's that whisper thing I'm telling you about you to whisper anybody in here want to admit that you had a situation like that well you don't have to raise your hand work you come yes we're a big group go ahead raise it up we're a big group all right so here's the deal anybody who has been betrayed when you go back and you think about that moment of betrayal there's always a whisper moment yes and you were telling I do see that now you do see it now do see it now but at the time I didn't I mean that's why that whisper metaphor did you talk about that today yes I did that's why that's so important and why it's so true because you said if you ignore the whispers yes and you get a brick wall and a catastrophe yes and which is right because if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes it would have been explained away oh and they were they were both nude by the way so I even had to see that but if they had been sitting there fully clothed they'd could have said well we were talking about whatever whatever whatever because she was a friend of mine and we were discussing something something something so I did have it did have to be that graphic that's absolutely true yeah so I pay attention to all whispers so weird so we're getting to the point where I think I mean it was it was a terrible moment and anybody who has ever been betrayed that way in your own home you know how that destroys your spirit how it shatters you when somebody so if anybody's gonna cheat don't bring the person to your house that is the lease district that is a most disrespectful thing you can do but in spite of that yeah you were the kind of mother who never said anything negative around your children know who wanted their father to still be engaged in their library much and made it possible for him to still be in their lives why because I think you have to love your children more than you're mad at him and it also and also you would say nobody wants to hear you know what he did to me really nobody cares about that nobody really cares except your closest friends and even they get tired of hearing it but you have to love your children more than as much as you just like him and are really very angry at him you have to figure out a way to you know navigate that and I'm happy to say knock on wood that we can actually you know be friends and have a civil conversation we can actually do that you know there are now 32 and 33 so they're potty-trained and employed so that's good but when they were growing up you had to figure out a way that you could be civil and cordial and we were able to do that okay I'm very proud of that actually yeah do you think you would still be I was saying to the audience earlier that if you have anybody in your life who is not happy for your happiness that that person ends up sucking your energy that can also be spouses so I ask you this question do you think you would be where you are in your life in your world in your career if you had remained married I can say 150 percent absolutely not because this was a very smart guy Yale educated lawyer former cop really smart very good-looking all the good things but for whatever reason you know being married to me was difficult for him and I can remember very clearly a conversation when he said I'll be glad when this Gayle King is over and I thought I want somebody that kind of likes the scale King so when you think of that when you think of that no I mean I can remember whatever that is hey guys listen I was just a local TV news anchor it's not like I was a big person it wasn't that but you want somebody whatever you're doing celebrates your success whatever that is and so I found myself turning down things with you turning down going to different places because I knew that that would be upsetting them and you want somebody who sort of cheers you on and whatever that yeah I was talking earlier about playing yourself small trying to play us I did that so you would I mean I when I watch you in the morning and I see you there with your mini necklaces I say to myself I like my necklaces I don't care what you say okay I know like I know cuz nothing I've said has decreased the amount that you wear so sometimes I'll put on two extras ago Oprah's gonna like this often when I see you sitting there I think about your journey first of all when Gail and I first met as I shared a few moments ago she was working in the newsroom I was working in the newsroom we've both been in news for the same amount of time and I think all those years as my bestie people thought oh you were just a friend but didn't realize you were actually working no I've worked you know I've worked for a very long time and some really important stories but I mean it's like let's start with the beginning don't we have the tape of Gail in her early career do we have that let's pull that up there stranger on at 5:30 he says reliable as clockwork in two decades but his channel three's Linda Carter who did you hear that this morning me it is a wonder you rated that it's a wonder you able to move up the ladder of success oh and you know the thing about it is you think you look cute too oh then you go back and look at it and go yikes but it says something though Oprah about you because we're 21 and 22 I don't know if Oprah told you I was a production assistant which is an entry-level position she's a news anchor which is a you know the highest you can be in local TV so I'm here and she's here but with the snowstorm and you said let's spend the night together let's spend the night not together but you could spend a night at my house that is correct that is I mean solid have those rumors all these years no cuz there was a snowstorm and I said yeah but I don't have any clothes and Oprah said you can borrow my clothes we were size 10 then and I said I don't have a toothbrush we can buy a toothbrush and she said I have underwear and it's clean and so I said there was a headline in a tabloid and it said the night out war Oprah's underwear that's how it started where people think there's ad but I mean it just says something to you it just says something about you that a you would even invite me to spend the night of your house cuz it's not like we really knew each other no we didn't really know I did tell them that we stood up and weather was all night long and we're like I never met another black girl like yeah like like you so guys right after that I was making twenty two thousand I was twenty-two making $22,000 in volta my was making twelve five and Gayle was like imagine when you're thirty and you're making thirty and then you're forty and making forty yeah and so and now you're a 66 making a gazillion Wow that's good this is a funny thing funny thing so right after that shortly after that I don't know if those the next day or when I was going to remembered there's this place used to be called casual corner yes yeah the casual corner and they used to do like these 1999 skin - and then you get it one for $9.99 for $19.99 and I bought two sweaters that I call my mother I said mom my friend Oprah just bought two sweaters a casual corner I had one on layaway it was like wow she bought two so it was so cool Gale was so excited for me this is what I'm talking about having friends who are happy for you happiness Gale was so excited about the two sweaters at casual corner when I was 22 years later fast forward we're in Fisher Island it's my 42nd birthday I say okay I'm gonna do something my birthday I'm gonna go to the mall I'm gonna buy myself a watch okay we're on the way to the mall and we pass a car dealership and I see this beautiful car I don't even know what it is a Bentley convertible I didn't know what I was at the time but I didn't know that it was a Bentley so we pull over and I say decide I'm gonna buy that Bentley on the spot and Gayle is trying to negotiate with the guy you know how they take you in the room so Gayle goes in the conversation in the back I go no I'm gonna write a check and he's gonna take the check I said negotiate so there was no negotiation it was a it was a it was a convertible Bentley yeah and I drove it off the lot and even though it was raining we had the top down like a wheel we're gonna ride in this Bentley today and then we couldn't get the top back up but Gayle is like oh my god what reminded me of it is is that we had the same moment buying the Bentley as we did the sweaters cuz Gil is like you're just gonna buy it just like today yeah you're not gonna put him both home yes so the other thing that I admire the most about you is the way that you've raised your children and I will have to say that when we first became friends and we're talking every day every day every day you got married I was in the wedding yes you had children I thought that our friendship would change after the children and why did you think that because children take up time and actually for Gayle the first real gift I ever gave was a nanny and I got her a nanny but she only wanted the nanny to do certain things so she would leave the news in Hartford go home and put her children to bed because she wanted her face to be the last space or children saw well because Oprah said the scale the reason why you have a nanny is so that you can sleep I go I don't want the nanny to put my children to bed I don't want that I want the nanny to be able to help me but I did think I wanted the kids my face would be the first and the last that they see and she said well doesn't that defeat the purpose of having a nanny I go no it's very helpful during the daytime but that wasn't I just didn't want I was very appreciative but I didn't I didn't want the nanny to be like a second mother I didn't want that I wanted to be very clear you are you and I am me and that we had very specific lines yeah so it mattered to me so the way you've raised your children so I thought that our friendship would with would wane a little bit after that but what happened is what still happens to this day and it happened again this morning Tony Morrison was on the show those of you watch that show where Tony Morrison said she was raising her children and she was a single parent and she realized that every time her sons would come into the room she'd say pull up your pants comb your hair button your shirt what you doing dirt it's on you dirt Sonia caller what are you doing and one day her son said mom every time you see me you see something wrong and she realized that what your kids really want is to know that when they walk into the room do your eyes light up when I enter the room do you see me do you hear me do I mean something to you and so I can honestly say that Gayle King has done that with her kids since they were teeny teeny teeny little tiny so take a talk we'd be on the phone talking and she'd say I'm on the phone with honey oh but she would put the phone down and go morning kirby kids morning wills and this morning I was in the gym I was walking out of the gym oh and Kirby Kirby was coming in the gym and he went morning the girl is 33 you're still acting like she 10 no no no this was funny I was on the phone talking no for once and we'll was eight at the time and will came and said mom could you please run my bathwater and I said over hold on a second after go run Will's bathwater and doesn't a boy know the difference between hot and cold that's what I said can he run he's eight you run his mouth water I went oh yeah we'll go run your bathwater you know you know as a mother you know you're so used to cutting up their food or you're used to doing stuff for that gold - boys Tim yeah so he was about ten yes so sorry here's the thing Gil I was sharing with the audience today my great lesson of parents learning when they are managers and when there are no longer managers to become consultants have you accepted the fact that you are now I don't hear you I'm supposed to be what now have you accepted the fact that you're now a consultant yes sure it's difficult listen what would really say what would Kirby say I'm scared to ask them there's no need to ask them okay I I could work on that I could work I will say I could work on that I could work on that because you're still trying to manage pointing it out managing things no I'm not trying to manage things but I do like to know what's going on yes I do is that a bad thing I want to know what's going on yes I do yes so so I'm working on that so I would say that the compliment that I was paying to you about raising your kids is that no matter what was going on in her life in my life even just on the phone she acknowledged the presence of her children so that thing that mr. Roger says about the greatest gift you can give to your children is your presence you have actually done that and now you have these two great kids I think these store goes to vacation with their mom yes yeah I know you guys actually never went through okay you guys never went through any kind of terrible teens nope I didn't go through terrible teens I didn't go through terrible twos because I don't think that that's an inevitable thing that has to happen I think I had very clear boundaries it was not a democracy I was definitely in charge I want to hear your opinion but at the end of the day I would make a mommy decision but I wanted to hear their opinion and we call it mommy decision Oh mommy decision but I wanted them to weigh in I didn't think I was I didn't think I was strict did you think I was strict nope I wasn't I didn't say strict I said well you went well I said well the better thought I was tricked I thought that well you know that one time I thought they went too far oh I thought you went way too far thought you would I don't know what you talking about Willis yeah there was a time Kirby prepare yourself there was a time where Kirby Kirby had stayed out later than she sure he had a curfew at midnight midnight she was not home yes yes okay and so you wake will up yeah and say where is Kirby yes and finally Kirby calls and it's early in the morning yes it was like 4:00 a.m. yes she was in high school yes so 4:00 a.m. okay so by this time you're really upset oh I was about to call the police yes it's about to call the police because I kept calling no answer calling no answer she comes in and I'm sitting there on the steps which which by the way never a good sign when your parents are sitting on the front steps when you opened the door she had fallen asleep in the park with a guy with a boy she was dating they had fallen asleep and so yes I did have some things to say about okay so guys I thought so this was like one of Kirby's first dates okay all the more reason why I was upset okay one of the first dates and she was very sorry and she was very apologetic so I thought that was enough that she was sorry and apologetic no no no excuse y'all let me finish the story they know Oprah they know I thought it was enough to his a pop she was very sorry and she's very responsible and she's always like and sorry okay give her a timeout kind of situation give her a punishment so Gail's idea of fixing the situation which I thought went too far was to go to the boys home know I called their parents I call the parents know and now it's you're waiting you went to the boys home Gail no I asked for a meeting and we had a meeting at the church with the boy yes Rick football with your parents with Christine and I'm like that is like oh she's gonna hate you she goes hey B no she's not gonna hate me no I wanted us all to be in the same room and I said listen dude is that too far no no no a lot of managers in his room a lot of managers know and my message to them and I wanted us all to hear it at the same time was listen I am not blaming your son for this because Kirby is old enough she has to take responsibility for her actions so I'm not blaming your son but what I do know is that my daughter would have never done that she would never have behaved that way so I'm asking you to support me I don't want them to continue to see each other because I think this is going in a very bad path [Applause] may I just say may I just say that he has now done some jail time that's all I'm saying so clearly clearly I saw something that's all i'ma say about it might have been extreme but I was I don't regret that at all I don't regret that at all and I said Joker you don't have children you don't understand yes and Kirby Kirby got over it you know Gayle raised her children in such a beautiful way that you know they were never hit or spanked or I remember once we're doing an Oprah show and we were talking about not beating your kids why you shouldn't beat your kids and some woman said how you how you gonna have good kids if you don't beat them but Gail's children were raised and they were never you know even yelled at so that early I've been yelled at but they didn't know no they weren't yelled at because when will came to my house remember that time I had those really expensive shaker boxes and he was a little boy and he was playing with my expensive antique shaker boxes like it was play-doh well you did yell and I said would you put that down just like that and he says what to Gail and said adios mean can we go home anyway I know that Kirby and well we all know that they're adults now are you able to say to yourself good job I'm very proud of them I will just say that I'm very very proud of it very proud special mommy hug let's talk about the special career moment that you're having right now so do you know that what a thought Gail was working with the struggling own network I was when I was going through everybody every story about my new net where there was a struggling own network and Gail was working doing a show during on Unown and she got the call to go to CBS and she goes I can't do it because if I leave everybody's gonna say even your best friend has abandoned you and I said you have to you have to do it but but I wouldn't have done it though I with you if you hadn't said and I said I just don't want the headline to say cuz the the reviews were terrible and there everybody was bashing you and taking you down and I said I don't want a headline that says even her best friend is abandoning a sinking ship and CBS and I were talking they hadn't offered it to me yet but it looked like they might and I said if they offer it to me I'm not going to take it because I don't want it to be another black mark against you and Oprah said own is going to be what owns gonna be you love the news and if they offer to you better take it which I think speaks to her as well that she was saying you know don't see no your job today but I wasn't gonna take it so you're you you just turned 65 yes and and you feel what and and I feel like there's a surge that happened so this is what's unbelievable Gail was in the middle of contract negotiations when the our Kelly interview happened you all know about that the our Kelly interview and let's take a look at that for a sec this moment the Robert tell me though you kept repeating Robert and lots of people's ask where you were afraid were you I wasn't afraid because I didn't really there was a moment just then with your eyes blink you're like what is going on with what is happening with this Negro man well it did go from zero to a hundred and ten quickly yeah I honestly thought he was having uh I don't want to say a breakdown people said he was faking he was not faking he was that was only think absolutely was not faking but I had seen previous interviews and I had my questions on my lap and I thought if I went up to him or tried to stop him or started hollering he would leave and I had seen previous interviews where he would leave the room when he was angry so I was just thinking if I sit here quietly look at him look at the chair look at him look at the chair and say his name that he would know I'm not going anywhere and it was my way of trying to calm him down but in the middle of you know hitting his hand and hitting his hand and you know spit was flying at one point you know spit fell on my lip like that and he is and I don't even want to go on no I just you've all been in situations like that where someone's talking to you and you don't even want to wipe your face like that but you know he said to me later he thanked me later out she cuz he led yeah he did I thought he'd be angry but he said I want to thank you for letting people see my passion in my pain that was the first time that he had talked after that documentary and I didn't really know art Kelly I didn't know him yeah but I thought you know that was a career changing moment no no you did that interview you interviewed members of the Jackson family the interview with the governor of Virginia who's going through the black faced controversy all of the sites at the same time yeah and you were saying I can't even believe this was happening I was saying that's how Jesus shows up over set I said in the middle of all of my contract negotiations all these big interviews are happening she goes that's called J thoughts that's what that's called that's what it looks like so a couple of weeks ago you all might have heard Gail was disparaged trolled attacked it was a very challenging time hard for me as a friend to watch and to watch you go through it what did you learn from all of that I mean I thought that was a big pull up for you that was a big total moment meaning it took you by surprise you know I know it rocked me over I didn't just take me by surprise it rocked me but when you say pull up what does that mean it pulled you up into another part of yourself so now you understand things differently oh yeah that's very true Oh cuz I thought pull up means you know it made you see that it out it out but I don't know it just it just made me see that help comes from unexpected places you know I always try to operate from the do no harm I always that is always my intention when you talk about do no harm that was certainly my intention doing that story and doing that interview and the intention certainly didn't align with the impact of the fallout that happened from that but what God to me was the vitriol and the vulgarity that was just Unleashed at me in ways that I couldn't even understand where that was coming from so I say you may disagree with story you may disagree with the way I do the story but there's just no way there's just it's just not fair or okay to be as vulgar and as hateful is what I experienced and and and what what surprised me is the people that came to reach out to me in unexpected places Ivanka Trump it's not like I'm hanging out at the White House but Ivanka Trump reached out to me to say are you okay I'm sorry that this is happening to you I mean I have to say I was very touched by that Kareem abdul-jabbar wrote a piece that said black words matter matter very touched by that very touch Tana housey Coates wrote something but there was oh my sir call you yeah Sean Spicer reached out to me who I don't know at all just to say are you okay and then on the other side but for others there was just silence of people that I thought would just leave some donuts at your door Oh Katie guys I live on the I live in New York on the Upper West Side I'd been away I came home and on my kitchen counter was a box of cupcakes on love cupcakes there was a box of cupcakes with an with a note from and it said Katie and Surrey were thinking about you now I didn't even know Katie Holmes a even knew where I live which means she had to find out yeah that they came and they had dropped it off and I and I don't really know I had to find somebody to get her email just so I could say thank you so much for doing that it's the kindness of strangers that I will never forget and in every circumstance I think this is something for all of us to remember it's not the people who are being mean it's not the badness it's not the vitriol that's being put into the world but it's the good people who remained silence that becomes so her that's so good good people's you know silence I think this I think we can disagree politically we can disagree socially if you want to but I just think humanity should prevail always and I think we still have to figure out a way to navigate that with each other we can disagree and you can be mad at me even you can be mad at me but you can't speak to me I love the way that I was spoken to as reven I love that you said that through it all you never questioned who you were no I absolutely didn't Oprah but you know it's a very dangerous thing to read all the negative negativity which I did which will take you in a very dark place I had to stop doing that and Taylor Swift I saw her miss Americana video documentary I know I thought it was very good but there's a line in there which she said I had to turn the channel I'll change the channel on my brain don't you like that line and I wish I had seen it when I was going through this stuff I told you to stop reading oh I know I know I told you will told you Kirby told you but you just kept reading it you know it's all it's country do you want to let it go you didn't have to let it go have you moved on oh I I have moved on it is there SCAP yep but I have moved on I put on my game face and my big girl pants because I never lost sight of who I was what I believe I am and my intention I've never lost sight of that but it certainly was it was a learning curve and it was very painful but yeah I think sometimes you have to go through that that makes you question things in life when I say that you're the most well person I know I mean that your whole you're moving through the world fully as yourself are you able to see that for yourself how whole you are you're pretty whole for the most part yeah yeah yeah yeah I got a scab but yeah yeah yeah yeah I mean it takes a lot to make me angry I really like people I like hearing their stories I like interacting with people so it takes a lot to get to me should I choose this story so much it's hard to go to an event with her she's the last room person to leave the room because she's listening to everybody's stories if she's in a cab I remember the time of you in the cab but the cab driver and like I say Gail where are you you're late well because the cab driver he won depend a lot are-- and i was gonna play the lottery stop that please i bought and bought him some tickets that is so nice he had a little daughter and he was talking about what he would do if he won yes Steadman says you're the nice one do you agree well I think you're pretty nice too so I'm not gonna get that thing with you instead and I ain't doing that but you're very nice - so what's your word there's anybody who's been with you or had an association with Oprah whether it's this close this close this close whose life hasn't been changed for the better and that is the truth so my word for the year is purposeful what's your word for the era gracious gracious my word it used to be kindness but now my word is gracious can we all just be gracious to each other do you like that word I love it I don't know you decided on gracious and did this past week's event give you that word I mean I think you know it's just been a culmination of thing you know I was sitting here when Tamela was singing you don't sing I love singing if I could do anything in life I would love to be on stage singing but my voice is terrible I get it but I mean different words speak to you at different times you know I've been to five of these and every time I come there's something different every single time and the words hit you depending on what's going on in your life you hear them very differently that's true oh I forgot to ask you what is the secret to our friendship do you think the secret to me is that trust I trust you totally even if I disagree with you I still trust you and I know that you know I I have this joke with Oprah when friends say I caught my best friend with my husband added out of that I said over if you ever walked in and caught me with Stedman you should not be mad you should take me to the mental institution because I have had a breakdown don't be mad it means I need help yeah ya'll said yeah if you ever caught me with seven get a straitjacket first yes don't be mad I believe that would be true - no but but I mean I think that we're honest with each other and trust each other and actually are very like-minded in our way of thinking yes except you have FOMO and I have Joma well I don't call it FOMO I just like doing stuff I don't call that but it's totally follow it is clearly FOMO no it's not it's like I love Stevens to have FOMO don't want to say they have it people who have the fear of missing out yeah not only you never know if you're gonna meet somebody Oprah see you have Stedman you go out to different places and I have a very good life I'm not I don't have a cry from the Argentine life because I'm not sitting at home like oh woe is me that it's not that but I think ultimately life is meant to be shared and it would be nice to meet somebody you go pleasures all the time where you know you ain't gonna find nobody yep that is true no that's also true yes but I just like I like being with people yes I do well you're you experiencing new things and you know why cuz you're one of the greatest people person on earth thank you so much my friend Gayle King my bestie thank you thank you so good so good so good so good

Channel: WW

Views: 820,180

Rating: 4.6373005 out of 5

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Id: klSFIzM6Ar8

Length: 47min 43sec (2863 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 11 2020