Gayle King, who for decades has been a well-respected news anchor, radio host, and editor of O Magazine, just had her contract at CBS renewed for $11 million a year, making her one of the highest-paid Black newswomen in the country!
Oprah, no stranger to knowing her worth and negotiating massive paychecks, reportedly coached her in making it happen:
“Get what you want,” Oprah says she told her. “Get exactly what you want, because now’s the time.”
Black women are often told they are worth less than their white and male coworkers, and the pay disparity is real. But King’s recent work leaves no room for doubt about her value.
Her demeanor in her recent, intense interview with R. Kelly was praised, as she kept her composure despite his outbursts.
But she’s been doing powerful interviews for years. She talked to Virginia governor Ralph Northam during his blackface controversy, and checked him when he stated that enslaved people were “indentured servants.”
Even when we’re at the top of our game, we sometimes have to demand to be given what we’re worth. And Gayle King’s example shows how it’s done!