Gayle King breaks her silence on ‘CBS Mornings’ co-host Tony Dokoupil’s Ta-Nehisi Coates interview

Gayle King has finally broken her silence on “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil’s fiery interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates and its aftermath — calling it a “learning” opportunity for staff.

King, who spoke at a panel at the Paley Center in Midtown on Tuesday night, said her show won’t “shrink from tough conversations” but that they also need to be mindful of how they approach “issues hot,” according to The Hollywood. Journalist.

“Life is difficult. The news is hard. Sometimes, you have tough conversations on television,” King said, referring to Tony Dokoupil’s interview with Coates on his controversial book The Message, which argues that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is immoral.

“We know this comes with a great responsibility. And we are aware of that. Some topics you know are just soft matters.

“I think we don’t avoid difficult conversations either. So I think it’s been a learning thing for everybody,” she said.

King was on the panel with fellow “CBS Mornings” anchors Nate Burleson and Dokoupil, as well as featured host Vladimir Duthiers and the show’s executive producer Shawna Thomas.

Thomas added that there have been many “difficult” conversations both internally and externally about the interview — which upset some employees about Coates’ line of questioning and Dokoupil’s treatment — and she expects that to continue.

“I think we’ve learned a lot from them,” Thomas said. “I hope those conversations make us better journalists and listeners.”

During the interview, Dokoupil asked Coates some pointed questions about the book, including “Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it?”

He also told Coates: “I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took out your name, took out the awards, the rating … the contents of that section wouldn’t be out of place in the backpack. of an extremist.”

After the interview, CBS News executives fielded staff complaints and then held a meeting on the fateful date of October 7, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel. At the meeting, the CEO of CBS News and her number two, Adrienne Roark, called Dokoupil, who is Jewish, out for the interview, saying it did not meet the network’s editorial standards.

Those words were questioned internally by Dokoupil’s supporters at the meeting, as well as by Shari Redstone, president of CBS-Paramount Global, who supported the anchor, saying he had done a “great job” with the interview. Redstone added that CBS made a “mistake” by reprimanding Dokoupil and saying it didn’t meet their standards.

Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks rushed to McMahon’s defense, supporting her decision, also saying the company needs to have “substantial dialogue” about perceptions of bias and “inconsistent treatment.”

The entire snafu revealed deep tensions within the Tiffany Network over the staff’s personal views and how the Israel-Hamas War has been covered.

McMahon, who was on Paley’s panel, did not speak. The co-hosts on the panel expressed their respect and friendship for each other. They did not speak further about the Coates interview, except for brief responses from King and Thomas to a question from moderator Lisa Ling, who is a CBS News contributor.

King’s comments on the matter are significant, as the popular anchor has remained silent following a recent interview with Coates, who insinuated that she prepared him before the segment.

On Trevor Noah’s podcast, Coates said, “The thing that went wrong with that interview, more than anything, as far as I’m concerned, is, and I know she’s going through a lot right now, so I really want her I say this. Gayle King is an excellent reporter and interviewer.”

He continued: “And Gayle came backstage before we did [on] and she had gone through the book, and I’m not saying she agreed with the book. She said: ‘I will ask you about it. I will ask you about it.”