Gayle King didn’t spare any details with regard to her friend Oprah Winfrey’s unexpected absence from “CBS Mornings” this week.
Winfrey had been slated to appear on the show Tuesday to discuss David Wroblewski’s “Familiaris,” the latest selection in her eponymous book club. Released this week, the book is a prequel to 2008’s “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle,” also by Wroblewski.
When Winfrey failed to appear on “CBS Mornings” for her scheduled chat with Wroblewski, however, King offered a less-than-pleasant take on her pal’s condition.
“She had some kind of stomach thing, stomach flu,” she said. “Stuff was coming out of both ends. I won’t get too graphic.”
King went on to note that Winfrey wound up in the hospital for dehydration: “It was a very serious thing.”
Though King’s comments about Winfrey’s illness appear to have been edited out of the interview on the “CBS Mornings” official YouTube page, TMZ captured the moment for posterity.
Watch Gayle King’s comments on Oprah Winfrey’s stomach flu below.
In a statement to E! News and other outlets, a spokesperson for Winfrey confirmed that the celebrity journalist was “recovering following a stomach virus” and had “received an IV due to dehydration at the recommendation of her doctor.”
“She is resting and feeling better every day,” the statement continued.
After noting on “CBS Mornings” that Winfrey “will be OK,” King explained why she’d felt it was necessary to be so, um, specific about her friend’s condition.
“I hope she’s not mad at me for sharing the detail,” she told Wroblewski. “I wanted to make it clear, though, that it mattered to her and it really bothered her that she couldn’t be here for you today.”
Though Wroblewski missed out on chatting with Winfrey this week, he can take heart in having become one of only a handful of authors to be selected for the former talk show host’s book club twice, after “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” was chosen in 2008.
