Gayle King's first on-air job was in Kansas City in 1980, according to Refinery29. She then moved to Baltimore where she worked at the city's WJZ station as a production assistant. It was at that gig that King first met Oprah Winfrey, who was working as an anchor for the 6 o'clock news, as Oprah Daily reported.
In an August issue of O: The Oprah Magazine, the pair revealed that they became friends when Winfrey invited King to stay with her for the night after King became stranded during a snowstorm. "We became friends that first night because for the first time, I met somebody who I felt was like me," Gayle shared, according to Oprah Daily. "I'd never met anybody like that. Certainly not another Black girl."
Despite being besties with one of the most powerful women in the world, King makes it clear that her talents got her to where she is today – not her best friend. "I've never felt like I had to justify my existence, because the truth of the matter is, that's how most people did get to know me, as Oprah's best friend," King told Refinery29. "I was working in Kansas City and then Hartford for 18 years...some people didn't even know I had a job!"
She continued, "They just thought I lived off of Oprah! I'll be in the airport and people will say, 'What are you doing here? You don't have a plane?' And I'm like, yeah I do: It's called American Airlines!"
