Gayle King shares updates on her longtime friend Oprah Winfrey’s health.
After King (69) revealed that Winfrey (70) had been hospitalized for a stomach virus and dehydration during CBS Morning on Tuesday, June 11, later that day King decided to FaceTime Winfrey to help set the record straight. King shared the news of Winfrey’s health while addressing her absence from a scheduled appearance on the morning show to reveal her latest book club selection — Familiaris David Wroblewski.
In a video shared on Instagram, King spoke virtually with the veteran talk show host and confirmed that he was not in the hospital.
“I never said you were hospitalized, I said you had something in your stomach, it was coming out both sides, which it was,” King said in the video.
I was in the emergency room, I was so dehydrated, Winfrey replied. “I had a dry mouth and I couldn’t keep enough water down to hydrate myself, so I went to the emergency room for that and that was it.”
Winfrey said at the time that she was “not 100 [percent]I’m on my way to 100,” adding that five people in her household also contracted the same virus.
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“The point I was trying to make to America was that there had to be something to prevent her from getting on the plane and coming. That’s the only point I was trying to make,” King added of Winfrey’s absence, which the philanthropist noted was “the first ” selecting the book club she missed.
I was too weak to get on the plane, Winfrey added.
The Color Purple star urged people to wash their hands to prevent contracting the disease, saying her doctor told her it can be spread on things like doorknobs and fences.
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King also asked Winfrey if she was “offended” by sharing the news about her health, to which she replied, “No, I thought what you were trying to do was explain why I’m gone and in a definitive way.”
“Everyone I know who has access to my email has been calling me and asking, ‘Are you okay?’ Thank you!” she added with a laugh.
“This is Oprah’s ‘I’m fine’ face,” King noted.
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“A first for @cbsmornings , announcing @oprah’s latest #Familiaris book club pick without Oprah! She’s been sidelined with a stomach virus that left her so dehydrated she went to the hospital for an IV,” King captioned the post
“I thought I made that clear, but the next thing I know I’m surprised to see headlines screaming ‘Oprah is hospitalized!’ (NOT!) And I’ve been bombarded with calls asking if Oprah is okay! And now we’re going straight to the source,” the journalist added.
King’s comments come after she said of Winfrey during the June 11 broadcast: “She had some stomach thing — stomach flu — stuff coming out of both ends.”
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“I won’t be too graphic. Needless to say, she ended up in the hospital, she was dehydrated, she had to have an IV,” King said, calling it a “very serious matter” and that her friend needed to rest.
“She’ll be fine. I hope she’s not mad at me for bringing up that detail,” King told viewers. “But I still wanted to make it clear that it’s important to her and that it really bothers her that she couldn’t be here for you today.”
A spokesperson for Winfrey told PEOPLE, “Ms. Winfrey is recovering from a stomach bug and received an intravenous injection for dehydration on doctor’s recommendation,” adding, “She is resting and feeling better every day.”
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