CBS bosses respond to Gayle King’s controversial Ta-Nehisi Coates interview after claim she shared topics beforehand

CBS defended Gayle King after she allegedly told guest and controversial author Ta-Nehisi Coates what she was going to ask him before their interview.

The network said King did not tip off The Message author about the questions in advance and simply “conducted a pre-segment conversation,” which was “standard practice for any experienced host.”

King, 69, sat down with Coates and her co-hosts Tony Dokoupi and Nate Burleson on September 30 to discuss the writer’s new book on Palestine during a six-minute segment.

During the interview, Dokoupi – whose two children and ex-wife live in Israel – accused Coates of being an “extremist” and attacked his work focusing on the voices of Palestinians in the West Bank.

King, who has been with the network since 2012, tried to smooth out the conversation by giving Coates 20 seconds before the end of the segment to simply talk about the message of his book.

Despite King being largely silent during the segment, criticism erupted after Coates told Trevor Noah on his show that the host approached him prior to the interview and told him what she wanted to ask.

“Gayle came backstage before we went, and she had gone through the book. And I’m not saying she agreed with the book. She said, ‘I want to ask you about this, I want to ask you about that,'” he said to Noah.

“Discussing a guest’s work in advance is a common approach to building rapport,” a spokesperson said. Daily beast.

“Gayle King is one of the most respected journalists in America. “She is known for her thorough preparation and note-taking,” the spokesperson said. “She reads the books, consumes the content discussed and prepares extensively for every interview on CBS Mornings.

Dokoupi — who has since apologized to staff for his behavior — was reprimanded by CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon, who said he “did not meet editorial standards for impartiality.”

McMahon and head of Newsgathering Adrienne Roark were publicly criticized Wednesday by Paramount Global Chairman Shari Redstone, who said a “mistake” had been made and the episode “wasn’t handled properly.”

Redstone also reportedly called Dokoupil to say she supported him, but expressed her doubts to Paramount Global Co-CEO George Cheeks, according to Puk.

Cheeks defended McMahon on Wednesday, saying she and her leadership team are “passionate advocates and stewards for CBS News’ standards” and “that won’t change.”

“Reasonable minds in a newsroom will appropriately pressure test and debate internally to ensure balanced and objective reporting outwardly,” Cheeks said, according to the Daily Beast.

Sources admitted the network remained deeply divided over the issue after another “tearful” staff meeting on Tuesday, in which Dokoupil addressed his colleagues for the first time.

“Tony said he regretted putting his colleagues in that position, especially those who were overseas and in danger,” one person told the newspaper New York Post.

Dokoupil had accused Coates of undermining the country’s right to exist and demanded to know why no pro-Israel voices were included during the September interview.

“The contents of that section would not be out of place in an extremist’s backpack,” he told his guest at the time. ‘Why leave out the fact that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why would you ignore the fact that Israel is dealing with terrorist groups that want to eliminate the country?’

Coates emphasized that there was no shortage of pro-Israel voices in the American media, and that he was trying to “tell those stories that I haven’t heard yet.”

Since the interview in September King’s controversial interview with the father of a Hamas hostage has resurfaced.

King interviewed Thomas Hand in November 2023 about the October 7 kidnapping of his eight-year-old daughter Emily by Hamas.

In the clip, King asked Hand, “This all seems to be about politics. What do you say to that? You know, you have innocent children and Palestinians dying, innocent Israeli children dying. And no one seems to be able to say, ‘Enough, stop it.’

Hand laughed nervously and replied, “I’m not interested in politics at all. My only concern is getting Emily back.”

Emily was safely returned to her family a few weeks later, fifty days after she was kidnapped in the massacre that killed 1,200 people and sparked the ongoing conflict.

But King’s tough line of questioning – which was backed by her bosses at CBS Mornings – led to accusations of hypocrisy after Dokoupil’s questioning of Coates.

Jewish Insider correspondent Lahav Harkov said King’s chat with Hand ‘violates CBS standards as much as ‘Tony Dokoupil… question[ing] Ta-Nehisi Coates asks tough questions about his anti-Israel screed.

“But apparently Gayle King was okay with making accusations against the father of a hostage – who didn’t say anything derogatory about the Palestinians.”