‘The View:’ What Gayle King Said About Being Passed Over For the Co-Host Job
ABC’s The View continues to be a ratings draw, possibly due to their sometimes heated disagreements and opposing opinions. Recently announcing the departure of co-host Abby Huntsman, the show is now in search of her replacement to join Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Meghan McCain at the table.
Over the years, the daytime talk show experienced several periods of a revolving panel, where co-hosts seemed to change more than the weather. CBS This Morning’s Gayle King was considered for the moderator chair at one point, but wasn’t offered the gig much to her disappointment.
King’s career
In the past year, King has risen to be one of today’s most revered journalists. Her groundbreaking interview with musician R. Kelly, who has accumulated multiple sexual abuse accusations against him, solidified King as a news industry giant.
Yet King has been in the news trenches long before her sit-down with Kelly. Starting as a production assistant at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, King began her journey in broadcast news and ended up meeting her now-famous BFF, Oprah Winfrey. After honing her skills as a reporter at WTOP-TV in Washington, D.C., King began hustling through local news.
Eventually, King went on to greater ventures such as serving as the Editor-in-Chief for O, The Oprah Magazine, and even having her own talk show in 2011. At one point, the news anchor was considered for the coveted role of moderator on The View.
Replacing Rosie
Back in 2007, show creator Barbara Walters needed a replacement for Rosie O’Donnell on The View. The network announced O’Donnell’s departure from the show just days after her now-infamous on-air blowup with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, according to The New York Times.
King’s name was tossed into the ring, along with Whoopi Goldberg. Entertainment Tonight reported that the decision came down to the two women, with a leaning towards King due to her news background and close ties with Winfrey.
“Some of the producers of The View favored King because they believed she was the most like Meredith [Vieira]. They thought, with her background in news, she could introduce the show’s ‘Hot Topics’ with the right touch, seamlessly moving from series to silly stories,” author Ramin Setoodeh wrote in his book, “Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of ‘The View.’” “Everybody in daytime TV wanted to emulate Oprah. This would be as close as you could get.”
Went with Whoopi
Ultimately, Walters had Goldberg fill the moderator seat. According to Setoodeh, what first drew producers to King became a deterrent in hiring her.”The thing that had made King famous — her connection to Oprah — also worked against her with The View,” Setoodeh wrote. “They were afraid of Gayle’s association with Oprah, and didn’t want Oprah to take over The View in the same way that Rosie [O’Donnell] had. They were worried that Oprah was going to offer producing notes, and use Gayle as a method to do that.”
King has not suffered professionally for being passed over, though she did admit to being disappointed at the time. “I was very interested. But that didn’t work out,” she said of the job, according to Entertainment Tonight. “I thought it would be fun because, listen, you get to give your opinion, which I love. I love pop culture. I love politics. I thought you get to do the two.”
Now with her lead anchor role on CBS This Morning and being named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019, King is clearly right where she belongs.
