Gayle King has responded after her ex-husband, William Bumpus, issued a public apology for cheating on her with a close friend more than 30 years ago. King said she was surprised that Bumpus spoke out, since he “never talks,” but she appreciated his statement and the acknowledgment of the pain caused by the affair.
The CBS Mornings host recently discussed the breakup in a candid interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast, where she revisited the moment she says she discovered the infidelity. King recalled returning home unexpectedly from Washington, D.C., with their two young children and finding her then-husband with a woman she had once considered a family friend. According to King, the pair were both in bathrobes, and Bumpus initially tried to stop her from entering the house by warning that someone was inside. She said she kept searching and eventually found the woman hiding behind a door.
King, now 71, was married to Bumpus from 1982 to 1993, and the former couple share two children, William Jr. and Kirby. She said she had some suspicions before the confrontation, including a time when the friend praised Bumpus’s tennis skills in a way that made her uneasy. King said she questioned her husband afterward, but felt dismissed and “gaslit” when he denied anything was wrong.
In response to King’s interview, Bumpus, 67, released a statement through TMZ saying he had long taken responsibility for his actions, including publicly in 2016. He said King had every right to speak about the painful chapter in their marriage and family history, but that he would leave it there.
King later told TMZ she valued his remarks, saying the incident was deeply painful but that both of them have healed and moved on. She said the reason she can now speak so openly about it is because enough time has passed for her to reflect on it from a distance. King added that while the betrayal changed the course of her marriage and family life, it happened long ago, and she believes people can recover from such painful experiences.
Her comments have drawn attention because Bumpus had remained largely silent publicly for years. King’s decision to speak about the affair, and his rare response, have reopened interest in one of the most difficult periods in her personal life.
