Broadcast journalist Gayle King is one of many women featured in bathing suits on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s 60th Anniversary issue.
Oprah’s best friend said she thought that she would only be featured inside the magazine. But never in her “wildest dreams” did she imagine being a cover girl like Tyra Banks, Christie Brinkley or even Beyoncé.
While preparing for its debut on stands, the Emmy-winning broadcast journalist joked that she would “send a copy” of the cover to her ex-husband, proving what Frank Sinatra said decades ago: “The best revenge is massive success.”
The 69-year-old still was shocked that she made the cover during the ‘zine’s launch party on Thursday, May 16, at Times Square’s Hard Rock Café. While talking to “Entertainment Tonight,” she said that even though the honor has “sunk in,” it continues to be “mind-blowing” to her.
King’s Children Encouraged Her To Pose for Sports Illustrated
King and her ex-husband, William “Bill” Bumpus, were married for nearly a decade, from 1982 to 1993. The former couple shares two adult children, Kirby Bumpus, 38, and William Bumpus Jr., 27.
Both Kirby and William Jr. (and their auntie Oprah) encouraged King to “go for it,” supporting her decision to don multiple bathing suits for the public to see.
“If Oprah, favorite daughter Kirby, favorite son-in-law and favorite son, if any of them said, ‘Eh I don’t think you should do it,’ it would have given me pause, but nobody said that,” she said in an interview with ET.
Since the news broke, the kids have been even more celebratory.
“Both of them said to me separately, ‘Mom, this is really cool. We’re very proud of you,'” she said, adding, “I wonder what my ex-husband is saying. I’m gonna send him a copy!”
King recently welcomed her second grandchild, her daughter’s second child, which she shared on social media.
As her friend of 47 years, Winfrey has always praised King for being a present and active parent in her kids life.
“I’ve never seen a better mother. She basically raised them herself. She is always present for them, and she also knows the line between friendship and mother,” Oprah revealed.
Gayle King Found Her Ex-Husband In Bed With A Friend: ‘I Had No Clue Whatsoever’
King and Bumpus did not seem to haven’t a rocky relationship until things ended due to his alleged infidelity.
The couple split after the celebrity walked in on him and one of their mutual friends having sex in their home — in her bed. The mom had taken their children on a trip and was returning early because of a flight change. At the time, before cellphones, text messages and emails, she was rushing to make the plane and did not get a chance to call and tell him she was on her way.
“We rushed to the airport. I came home a day — actually, a day early. He was not expecting — he was not expecting to see me,” she said during the 2020 Vision Tour, according to LittleThings.com. “And I wasn’t expecting to see her.”
Oprah then chimes detailing how King explained what happened on a phone call after making her longtime partner, Stedman Graham, leave the room.
She learned the woman was married to another one of the couple’s close friends and so the lady would have been welcomed in her home before the episode.
“So you know when they say the wife always knows? The wife always suspects? I tell you, I really — you know this,” King said. “I had no clue. No clue whatsoever.”
According to the “CBS Mornings “host, her husband at the time and the friend “were both nude,” when she caught them on June 24, 1990, at 9:16 p.m.
“But if they had been sitting there fully clothed, they just could have said, ‘Well, we were talking about whatever, whatever, whatever.’ Because she was a friend of mine,” said King. “And ‘We were discussing something, something, something.’ So I did have — it did have to be that graphic,” she continued for her to believe it.
Many in the press have asked her name, but King refuses to shine the light on the accused homewrecker and never spoke Ill about her ex. When asked to identify her, “She knows her name!”
“You have to love your children more than … as much as you dislike him and are really very angry at him, you have to figure out a way to, you know, navigate that,” she stated.
Following Bumpus’ Infidelity, Oprah Says She Knew He and Gayle Weren’t Going to Last
In a 2006 interview, the media maven spoke on her best friend’s marriage to the Yale graduate, stating, “It didn’t feel joyful. You know how you go to weddings and they’re full of joy?”
Adding in the interview with her O, The Oprah Magazine, “There are some weddings you go to and you’re just filled with all this hope for the couple. And you feel that there’s something special going on. I didn’t feel that at yours. It just felt kind of pitiful.”
Once split, King thought that she might go back with her husband for the children’s sake, but Oprah was totally against it. After listening to her friend mull over returning to a man she called “a cheater,” “The Color Purple” producer snapped and told her, ‘”You shouldn’t. It’s a mistake. It’s a mistake,’ King recalled.
“Finally, she said, ‘Please get back with him. And I will send a moving truck.’ And I said to her, ‘Well, you don’t understand because you don’t have children.’ He was on his knees and he was crying. And she said, ‘Mm-hmm. That doesn’t mean anything,’” the divorcée said. “I go, ‘You just don’t understand.’”
Fed up, Oprah snapped and allegedly told her “Please get back with him,” to stop her from talking.
Bumpus Has Publicly Apologized For Breaking Up The Family
Bumpus has had some time to rethink his actions and almost two decades later issued a public apology.
“I have been haunted with this life altering choice. Though I have dealt with this privately…I publicly apologize for the major transgression that dramatically changed all of our lives,” he said in a statement to the New York Post’s Page Six in 2016.
As noted, he said he had “nothing but the utmost respect” for his ex-wife, he also applauded her for showing “grace” during the experience, raising their children and moving on with her life.
“Gayle was a great wife, an excellent mother and a fantastic co-parent. I am eternally grateful for all that she has done and continues to do to enrich my life and the lives of our incredible adult children,” Bumpus punctuated, before adding that he was a continual “work in progress” and “striving to be a better man and father.”
Bumpus Has Since Remarried and Divorced His Second Wife
Gayle ex’s dated Jennifer Aufiero Bumpus for five years starting in 2004 before marrying her on October 29, 2009, in Glastonbury, Connecticut. They have one child together, Poet Willow Bumpus, born on May 19, 2010.
Throughout their relationship they reportedly fought often.
According to court documents, “the marriage has broken down on the grounds of irretrievable breakdown with no hope of reconciliation.”
The primary issue in the divorce of Jennifer and William, a former Connecticut Assistant Attorney General, revolves around the care of their child, who has ADHD symptoms.
Jennifer proposed a 2-2-3-3 parenting schedule, suggesting shared physical custody and final decision-making authority in case of disputes. William countered by seeking sole physical custody, advocating for a 5-2-2 schedule and requesting supervised visitation for Jennifer. He also sought final decision-making authority.
The court, prioritizing the child’s best interests, ruled in favor of shared physical custody without awarding sole decision-making authority to either parent.
Court documents also reveal scant marital assets. The couple’s home at 71 Robinwood Road, Waterbury, CT, appraised at $142,000 by Ronald M. Diorio, has a $160,000 mortgage, resulting in negative equity. The mortgage is in Bumpus’ name. Jennifer and their child reside in the home, while Bill rents from his sister.
Neither party had any significant savings or income-generating investments.
It’s unclear the status of Bumpus’ relationship with his kids. But according to photos on Instagram, he was around during Kirby’s first pregnancy with her son in October 2021, who was born on his birthday. He has not shared any post on his Instagram page since the same year in November.
