The whispers about Oprah’s best girl Gayle King are reaching fever pitch among all my media friends. This is what I know: KENNEDY
Did someone order a dumpster? Because they’re throwing out the trash at the Tiffany Network.
New Media baddie Bari Weiss – recently named CBS News editor-in-chief – seems to be taking her mandate to bring balance to the Lefty newsroom (and their bottom line) extremely seriously. And that may mean presenting some pricey scalps to her new boss, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison.
CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King has reportedly been dethroned and she’s expected to be roused from her AM roost as soon as next year.
According to King, it’s all a bunch of hooey, saying on Friday that she has ‘no idea’ if she’ll be booted come 2026. Then CBS News said, ‘there have been no discussions with Gayle about her contract that runs through May 2026.’
As far as denials go, that one’s about as weak as Joe Biden’s golf game.
After all, King’s compadre CBS Evening News anchor Nora O’Donnell was recently toppled. O’Blabbel received an Oprah Winfrey-narrated highlight reel as a sendoff on her final broadcast in January. I wonder what Gayle – Oprah’s life-long (platonic) partner – would get?
It would make sense to me that King’s massive salary (reportedly north of $10 million) and lackluster ratings aren’t cutting it with Queen Weiss.
Gayle’s news squad has been getting shellacked by ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today Show and ‘making the podium’ isn’t quite as impressive when you’re in third place… out of three.
I met Gayle King once. She carries herself with the royal air of a politician or a moneyed Scientologist. She has the megawatt smile and thousand-yard stare of someone who has perfected the art of seeming genuine even when they see right past you.
I have met Gayle King once. She carries herself with the royal air of a politician or a moneyed Scientologist
It’s impressive to behold, but there’s an emptiness about her that viewers seem to have gravitated away from.
Of course, that wasn’t the experience of my Fox News’ colleague Jesse Watters. He and Gayle made mile-high headlines when they sat next to each other on a recent flight and posted about their pairing on social media.
Watters tells me he was positively giddy, almost smitten, over his time with Ms. King. But Gayle’s liberal followers were absolutely disgusted that she didn’t shiv him with her first-class butter knife.
Perhaps Gayle was reading the writing on the wall. (You’ve got to be savvy to last in Oprah’s orbit for so long… just ask Meghan Markle.)
Could it be that Gayle was trying to cozy up to a conservative celebrity like Jesse, hoping a bit of the star dust sprinkled on her?
Who could blame her for trying?
Weiss (former New York Times dissenter and founder of the Free Press) has her sights fixed on CBS’s big egos and diminishing returns.
This week, newsy nepo baby and CBS veteran John Dickerson escorted himself out the building, announcing he’ll resign at year’s end. His mom Nancy was CBS’ first female correspondent. But he met the estrogen-drenched buzzsaw of another lady pioneer when Ms. Weiss took over.
Another one who should be looking over his shoulder is 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley. He put a target on his own back when he delivered a tantrum/sermon at the Wake Forest commencement in May, chucking a few thinly veiled grenades at President Donald Trump and wailing about ‘truth seekers’ being made to ‘live in fear.’
Now, he’s reportedly got something to really be scared of: a pink slip.
Jesse Watters and Gayle made mile-high headlines when they sat next to each other on a recent flight and posted about their pairing on social media.
Norah O’Donnell received an Oprah Winfrey-narrated highlight reel as a sendoff on her final broadcast in January. I wonder what Gayle – Oprah’s life-long (platonic) partner – would get?
Pelley’s 60 Minutes colleague Bill Whitaker is also said to be out of favor with the new regime. His botched, softball interview with Kamala Harris resulted in a $16 million payout to the Trump Presidential Library.
So, is Gayle really headed for the garbage heap? Only time will tell. And I wouldn’t put it past Winfrey’s bestie to have a few tricks up her stockings. But if you see her ‘accidentally’ sitting next to Sean Hannity on his next flight, you’ll know something is up.
No matter what happens, one thing is certain: Weiss is right to demand objectivity at CBS, to stop that newsroom from operating like a political action committee and to return the network to good old fashioned storytelling.
Mirror, mirror
She’s rich, famous, insufferably woke and blessed with glossy tumbles of long dark hair.
No wonder permanently smug, unemployed soy boy Justin Trudeau said that he thinks Katy Perry is ‘perfect.’
She has all the qualities that he values most: his own!
Officer Undies
A Detroit cop is going viral after appearing for a virtual court hearing in police officer’s shirt and underwear
When the judge asked, ‘You got some pants on, officer?’ the red-faced arrester replied, ‘No sir’ before adjusting his camera away from his Motor City man parts.
Somewhere Jeffrey Toobin is saying: ‘See, it happens to everyone.’
One small step…
Noted astrophysicist Kim Kardashian thinks the moon landing was faked.
She cited debunked conspiracy theories like the bogus claim that moonwalking American hero Buzz Aldrin’s once said, ‘It didn’t happen.’
Hey Kim, why not have a rover land on your booty?
Some say that’s fake too.
Goodnight Zohran
On a podcast this week, NYC mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani couldn’t identify Billy Joel as the artist who sang ‘New York State of Mind.’
Newsflash, Zohran: The Piano Man has sold out Madison Square Garden 150 times!
If Mamdani is elected, then I’m… Movin’ Out.
Double trouble
A braless Sydney Sweeney showed off her twin talents at Variety’s Power of Women Award show in LA this week.
I’m talking about her beauty and style, of course.
If only folks could focus on them.
A braless Sydney Sweeney showed off her twin talents at Variety’s Power of Women Award show in LA this week
Tone deaf
Musician Billie Eilish railed against billionaires while accepting an award at the _WSJ Magazine _Innovator Awards on Wednesday.
‘Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me,’ Eilish told the crowd which included Mark Zuckerberg and George Lucas. ‘If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.’
Billie – you’re worth an estimated $50 million.
You don’t need all that money, do you?
Foul!
Meghan and Harry were loudly booed at Dodger Stadium as they took in a World Series game on Tuesday night.
When the ‘Kiss Cam’ caught the pair, the crowd seemed to say, ‘Kiss my ***.’
The pair was sitting in front_ _of two legends of Los Angeles sports: Magic Johnson and Sandy Koufax.
Those dudes are true royalty.
Meghan and Harry were loudly booed at Dodger Stadium as they took in a World Series game on Tuesday night
Ready to rumble
Congressional rodeo clown Marjorie Taylor Greene is going to be a guest on The View next week.
If you thought that Maury Povich’s paternity test reveals made for good daytime TV… this one might be for you.
For once, Whoopi might seem like the sane one.
