CBS Mornings star Gayle King has spoken out after her co-host Tony Dokoupil sparked controversy for a fiery interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates.
For those who missed it, King, DoKoupil, and Nate Burleson had a sit-down with the author about his new book, The Message, which features a section condemning Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. During the September 30 interview, Dokoupil co-opted the conversation and asked many hard-hitting, to some, even biased questions, which made waves across the internet.
“Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it?” he asked the author. He also called Coates a “radical” and also called out his reputability: “I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name out of it, took away the awards, the acclaim … the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.”
King, who like her co-hosts, have remained very quiet about the interview, finally spoke on behalf of everyone from CBS Mornings that was involved on-air. The topic came up during a panel on Tuesday, October 23 at PaleyFest New York. King, seated with Burleson and Dokoupi on stage, handled the question, while the other two did not weigh in.
“Life is hard,” King said. “The news is hard. Sometimes, you have hard conversations on television,” she said. “We know that it comes with a great responsibility.
“And we’re mindful of that. Certain topics you know are just hot-button issues. You have to be very careful about how you ask the questions, how the questions are received. I think we don’t shy away from hard conversations either. So, I think it’s been a learning thing for everybody,” she concluded.
CBS Mornings EP Shawna Thomas, also on-stage for the panel, shared that there have been many “hard” conversations both internally and externally about the interview — and those are ongoing. “I think we’ve learned a lot from those,” Thomas said. “I’m hoping those conversations make us better journalists and better listeners.”
The interview not only divided viewers but also caused an ongoing and very public dispute at CBS News. Here’s a look at some of the key moments internally that have been reported since it aired:
After the interview, CBS News executives fielded complaints from staffers and then held a meeting on October 7, the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel. At the meeting, the head of CBS News, Wendy McMahon, and second-in-command Adrienne Roark called out Dokoupil for the interview, according to The Free Press. They argued Dokoupil was biased and “did not meet the network’s editorial standards.”
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The interview and its fallout caused a public rift between CBS News and its parent company Paramount Global, according to Deadline. Paramount Chair Shari Redstone strongly backed Dokoupil, calling CBS News’ criticism “a mistake.” The same day, Paramount’s Co-CEO issued a statement backing CBS News.
The unusually open spat within the reputable network comes after a period of upheaval for CBS News and Paramount Global, which is set to be sold to Skydance Media in a deal slated to close in the first half of 2025. The newsroom went through a round of layoffs last month that saw such personalities as Jeff Glor exit along with 15 percent of the staff, Deadline detailed.
During the summer, CBS News longtimer Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews announced that she was stepping down as president of CBS News, a position she held for less than a year.
The hourlong panel today spent only two minutes discussing the Dokoupil-Coates situation.
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