Gayle King blasts rumors of her demise at CBS News as ‘inaccurate’ as she signs new deal with the network
Gayle King has signed a new deal to stay with CBS Mornings, the broadcaster’s editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has confirmed.
Weiss, 41, shared the news to X on Wednesday, after months of speculation about King’s network future.
The post included a quote from King herself. She triumphantly told The Wall Street Journal that ‘rumors of my demise were inaccurate and greatly exaggerated.’
‘CBS News is my longtime home, and I am committed to our mission,’ the anchor added. She has been with CBS Mornings since 2011.
The host’s old contract was valued at around $15 million-a-year and was set to expire this May.
‘I’m excited about continuing at “CBS Mornings,”‘ King, 71, continued. ‘As always, I’m open to new adventures here and ready to go.’
‘It took a minute, but we got there. And now that we are here, I am all in,’ she added.
The remarks appeared to reference an increasingly new-look CBS News under Weiss, as well as the time devoted to the still-shrouded contract negotiations.
Gayle King has signed a new deal to stay with CBS Mornings, CBS News confirmed on Wednesday. The anchor has hosted the show since 2011
The news was shared by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss on Wednesday, along with a quote from the anchor herself
Terms of the deal were not disclosed as of Wednesday afternoon.
Sources told Variety in January that Weiss was willing to keep King on, though at a cost. The former New York Times opinion journalist saw the star as too expensive, sources said.
A few months before, in August, a well-placed CBS source told the Daily Mail that King’s contract would ‘most likely’ not be renewed come May, aware that Weiss was about to take the reins.
Weiss’s first order of business in October was laying off more than 1,000 staff – while extending a sort of olive branch to King, according to Variety.
One of the options was to keep King on the air at CBS Mornings for another year though at a lower salary, sources told the publication.
The Daily Mail has approached CBS for comment.
Another early move from Weiss – who was appointed by also-new Paramount CEO David Ellison with the expectation of being a disruptor – was elevating King’s former cohost, Tony Dokoupil, to CBS Evening News.
The move was widely criticized within the industry. Sources who spoke with the Daily Mail at the time framed it as a last-ditch move from a leader who was desperate.
King, 71, triumphantly told The Wall Street Journal that ‘rumors of my demise were inaccurate and greatly exaggerated.’ The Journal was the first to report on King’s new contract
Terms of King’s news deal were not disclosed as of Wednesday afternoon
Beforehand, Weiss sought top talents like Anderson Cooper and Fox News’s Brett Baier but failed to snap any up.
A few weeks later, Weiss made the decision to pull a 60 Minutes segment set to speak on poor conditions at CECOT (Terrorism Confinement Center) in El Salvador – a move that also put her under a microscope.
She brought on Matt Gutman – a longtime but little-known former ABC journalist who previously worked at the Jerusalem Post – as the network’s new chief reporter, though ABC execs let him go without a fight, sources told the Mail at the time.
On January 27, during an all-hands-on-deck meeting in Manhattan, Weiss proudly presented a new roster of on-air contributors before details were quickly leaked to the press.
One of the additions, longevity expert Dr Peter Attia, has already left his position after his name came up multiple times in the latest tranche of emails compiled by feds in their probes into Jeffrey Epstein.
King, meanwhile, is a recognizable face, and CBS Mornings has yet to replace Dokoupil.
The show remains well behind in ratings to ‘Today’ and ‘Good Morning America,’ and the same goes for CBS Evening News.
Weiss – who was paid $150 million for her publication the Free Press upon being hired – has never headed a major newsroom.
