Oprah Winfrey hospitalized with stomach flu: ‘Very serious thing,’ Gayle King says
Oprah Winfrey was hospitalized for “some kind of stomach thing,” her best friend, Gayle King, revealed on Tuesday.
Winfrey, 70, was supposed to drop by King’s “CBS Mornings,” but skipped out on the appearance due to being under the weather.
“She had some kind of stomach thing — stomach flu — stuff was coming out of both ends,” the news anchor, 69, explained.
“I won’t get too graphic. Needless to say, she ended up in the hospital, dehydration, had to get an IV, it was a very serious thing.”
A spokesperson for Winfrey told Page Six that the billionaire “is recovering following a stomach flu and received an IV due to dehydration at the recommendation of her doctor.”
“She is resting and feeling better every day,” the statement concluded.
Winfrey had planned to introduce author David Wroblewski and his book, “Familiaris,” which is the latest pick for her book club.
“I wanted to make it clear that [the book] matters to her and it really bothered her that she couldn’t be here today. She so, so loved this book,” King said on Tuesday.
King told viewers that Winfrey will ultimately “be OK” following the health setback.
“[I hope] she’s not mad at me for sharing that detail,” she added.
Winfrey and King gushed about each other — and revealed why their friendship works — in a joint interview for the New York Times in January.
“She is a blunt truth-teller. Even if you don’t want to hear it,” King said of Winfrey at the time. “[We] enjoy each other very, very much.”
They also can communicate with just a simple glance. “Sometimes we’re both thinking, ‘I want to stab myself in the eye with a fork right now. Oh, my god. Why am I here?’” Winfrey said of some of the events they’ve attended. “A couple of times Gayle has said, ‘Should I hand you my fork?’”
The pair met in 1976 when they were working at a Baltimore television station. One night, Winfrey invited King to spend the night amid a snowstorm — and they hit it off immediately.
“We sort of became the gold standard for friendship,” Winfrey said. “I actually think that is deserved.”
