"I appreciate it because listen, that was a very painful time," King said
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty; William Bumpus/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Gayle King spoke about finding her ex-husband, William Bumpus, in the midst of an affair in their home on Call Her Daddy
- Bumpus then issued a public statement apologizing for “the pain I caused decades ago”
- King said she was “surprised” that her ex addressed the podcast comments, but she “appreciated what he had to say”
Gayle King was not expecting her ex-husband's public apology.
On the Call Her Daddy podcast earlier this week, the journalist recalled the moment she found her ex, William Bumpus, cheating on her with a friend of hers in their house. After detailing the affair, Bumpus issued a statement directed to King, their two kids, and his grandchildren, sharing his "deepest apologies" for "the pain I caused decades ago."
“Those actions were mine. I have long owned them — including publicly in my own words in 2016, which still stand," he said in the statement, which was shared with TMZ and Page Six. "Gayle has every right to share what was a painful chapter that changed the trajectory of our marriage and our family nearly 40 years ago. I respect her right to tell her story, and that’s where I’ll leave it."
King, 71, was "surprised" to see her ex-husband, to whom she was married from 1982 to 1993, speak out about the affair, "'cause he never talks."
"I was surprised, but I can also say, I appreciated what he had to say," she told TMZ.
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Credit: Call Her Daddy/Youtube
"I appreciate it, because listen, that was a very painful time," King said. "Anybody that's been through it knows how painful it is, but I also know that you can go through and get through it on the other side. This happened so long ago that we have both healed, we have both moved on, and the reason why I can talk about it so candidly, to be honest with you, is because it has been so much time that has passed."
She said she's "in a really great place" now, and she "hadn't intended to talk about that" on the podcast.
King also told TMZ she "did not know" her ex was going to share a statement or address her comments at all.
"I was very, very surprised," she said. "He didn't say anything to me about it, so I was surprised, but I'm very appreciative."
Credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
After the affair, King and Bumpus went to counseling, then got divorced before reconciling and splitting again.
“I realized he hadn't really changed, but I was turning into such a shrew,” she said on Call Her Daddy. “I would be out in the garage feeling the hood of the car to see if it was warm. I was going through his phone. And I thought, I don't want to live like this, only to find out he was cheating again.”
When they split for good in 1993, she said, “I didn't like who I was. Who wants to live like that? I didn't want to be that person.”
When King publicly referenced Bumpus' affair back in 2016, he responded in a statement to Page Six at the time, calling King a "great wife" and saying he "spent the last 26 years striving to be a better man and father."
“I have been haunted with this life-altering choice," he added at the time, in part. "Though I have dealt with this privately … publicly apologize for the major transgression that dramatically changed all of our lives.”
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