Gayle King finally broke her silence following “CBS Mornings” co-anchor Tony Dokoupil’s fiery interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates and its aftermath — calling it a “learning” opportunity for the staff.
King, who spoke at a panel at Midtown’s Paley Center on Tuesday night, said his show “will not shy away from difficult conversations” but that he also has to be careful in how he approaches “hot-button issues.” . According to The Hollywood Reporter,
“Life is difficult. The news is hard. Sometimes, you have tough conversations on television,” King said, referring to Tony Dokoupil’s difficult interview Coates on his controversial book “The Message” Whose argument is that Israel’s behavior with Palestinians is immoral.
“We know this comes with a huge responsibility. And we are conscious of it. Some topics you know are just hot-button issues. You have to be very careful about how you ask questions, how the questions are received,” King said.
“I think we don’t shy away from tough conversations. So, I think it’s been a learning thing for everybody,” she said.
King was on the panel with fellow “CBS Mornings” anchors Nate Burleson and Dokoupil, as well as host Vladimir Duthiers and the show’s executive producer Shawna Thomas.
Thomas said there have been a number of “difficult” conversations, both internally and externally, about the interview – which has upset some staffers about Dokoupil’s questioning and Coates’ treatment – and she expects these to continue.
“I think we learned a lot from him,” Thomas said. “I hope these conversations will make us better journalists and better listeners.”
During the interview, Dokoupil asked Coates some pointed questions about the book, including “Why leave out the fact that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to destroy it?”
He also told Coates: “I have to say, when I read the book, I imagined that if I took your name out of it, the awards, the accolades… the contents of that section wouldn’t be out of place in a backpack. Must be of an extremist.”
Following the interview, CBS News executives filed staff complaints and then held a meeting on the fateful date of October 7, the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel. At the meeting, the CEO of CBS News and his number two, Adrian Roark, called Dokoupil, who is Jewish, for an interview. Saying that it did not meet the network’s editorial standards.
Those words were questioned in the meeting by Dokopil’s supporters as well as internally Shari Redstone, president of CBS-parent Paramount Global, who endorsed the anchorSaying that he did a “great job” in the interview. Redstone said CBS made a “mistake” by reprimanding Dokoupil and saying it was not up to their standards.
Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks Ran to McMahon’s defenseSupporting its decision, it also said the company needed to have “concrete conversations” about perceptions of bias and “disproportionate treatment.”
The entire incident revealed deep tensions inside the Tiffany network over staffers’ personal views and how the Israel–Hamas war was covered.
McMahon, who was on the Paley panel, did not speak. The co-hosts expressed respect and friendship for each other in the panel. She said nothing more about the Coates interview other than King and Thomas’ brief responses to a question from moderator Lisa Ling, a CBS News contributor.
King’s comments on the matter are noteworthy, as the popular anchor has remained silent following a recent interview with Coates, who indicated that he prepared them ahead of the segment.
But Trevor Noah’s Podcast, Coates Said: “As far as I’m concerned, that’s the thing that went wrong the most in that interview, and I know she’s got a lot of things going on right now, so I really want to say that. Gayle King is a great journalist and a great interviewer.
He added: “And before we left Gail came backstage [on] And she had read the book, and I’m not saying she agreed with the book. She was like, ‘I’ll ask you about it.’ I will ask you about it.
