On Tuesday, June 11, King and her CBS Mornings co-anchors hosted Familiaris author David Wroblewski, whose book was recently selected for Oprah’s Book Club.
Winfrey had planned to attend the taping to meet Wroblewski, but King embarrassingly revealed the reason her best friend couldn’t make it.
“I’m so sorry Oprah can’t be here…Yesterday, she said, ‘I’m gonna rally, I’m gonna rally.’ She had a stomach flu, and let’s just say it was coming out both ends. I won’t go into detail. She ended up in the hospital with dehydration and had to get an IV, so it was quite serious,” King said.
While co-anchors Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson showed sympathy for Winfrey, they were visibly surprised by King’s “both ends” comment, while Wroblewski laughed.
“She will be okay. I hope she’s not mad at me for sharing that detail,” King added. “But I wanted to emphasize that it really mattered to her and it bothered her that she couldn’t be here for you today.”
Given their nearly 50-year friendship, Winfrey might not take King’s comment too seriously.