CBS reporter Gayle King stunned viewers when she uttered a homophobic slur while quoting a joke by openly gay comedian Matteo Lane during his interview.
Lane, who is also a singer, actor, and now cookbook author, was on CBS Mornings to promote his new cookbook, Your Pasta Sucks, and to stir up laughter from King and her co-hosts Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson.
The Italian cuisine aficionado impressed the co-hosts with his knowledge of pasta being the star of the show and how the effectiveness of cooking with dry pasta vs. fresh pasta depends on the sauces they're compatible with to achieve the most palatable outcome.
He also commented on how cooking with his family and laughing in the kitchen became a natural progression to entertaining audiences with his brand of humor.
To keep the frivolity going, King asked Lane more about his comedy.
"Can we talk about the stand-up? Can I just say one joke? I hope I don’t get in trouble," said King, adding:
"You do a riff about white women who approached you, and they said something about cooking, and you said, ‘What in the fa***try are you talking about?'”
Lane cackled as King commented, “I thought that was hilarious. What does that mean?”
"I love you, Gayle King," said the comedian, still laughing, and explained that the line meant exactly what it conveyed and how it applied towards white women who act normal during the day but become unapologetic gossipers after a sip of rosé.
According to LGBTQ Nation, the slur was not censored during the live broadcast or on CBS's YouTube clip.
Warning: NSFW
However, the network removed the video from its website and YouTube channel after Entertainment Weekly reached out for comments following the mixed internet reactions.
CBS issued the following statement.
“Gayle was quoting Matteo Lane in a live conversation. We removed the slur from the later feeds of the show, as you can see on our social channels, and we have removed this version of the segment from YouTube and CBSNews.com."
Despite King quoting a line by the comedian, her delivery of it was met with controversy online.
Social media users immediately gasped over the jarring departure from her professional on-camera persona.
Some were not okay with the anti-gay epithet coming out of the broadcast journalist's mouth live on air.
However, RuPaul's Drag Race season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen called the scandalous moment “honestly iconic.”
Others also weren't as bothered.
CBS Mornings/YouTube
Here's the full segment, censored.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
King has not apologized for saying the slur amid the backlash.
What are your thoughts? Do you think a formal apology statement is warranted here? Or do you think it was humorous, taking a cue from Lane's reaction?
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