50 Cent says Gayle King once confronted him after he insulted Oprah Winfrey
The rapper - who is known for finding joy in playing the villain in the court of public opinion - said he intentionally lashed out at Winfrey after she voiced concerns about the type of rap music he makes.
Gayle King may be known for keeping her cool during tense interviews but rapper 50 Cent claims that years ago, the even-tempered news anchor once confronted him with some choice words after he insulted her best friend Oprah Winfrey.
In his new book Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter which is set to be released on April 28th, the rapper recalls the day an angry King marched up to him at an event for Bette Midler’s foundation.
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Oprah Winfrey (R) and Gayle King during the 38th AFI Life Achievement Award. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for AFI)
“Gayle is the real deal. A very sophisticated, secure and smart lady,” he wrote, according to Page Six. “She’s never afraid of a situation … So she marched right up to me and basically said, ‘Why you talkin’ s–t about my girl?’ ”
The rapper – who is known for finding joy in playing the villain in the court of public opinion – said he intentionally lashed out at Winfrey after she voiced concerns about the type of rap music he makes.
In a ploy to capitalize on the publicity, 50 said he returned the favor and insulted her in the press. But what he hadn’t banked on was King’s willingness to have her back in a face to face encounter.
“I’d love to be Oprah’s friend, but if we can’t be friends, could we at least be enemies?” he reportedly told King at the time.
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By 2012, he’d apparently buried the hatchet with the two journalists and even appeared on Winfrey’s “Oprah’s Next Chapter” to clear the air.
“Before meeting me, they had bought into the 50 Cent persona … Someone who got into beefs and drama because he just couldn’t help himself,” he wrote about the meeting. “But when I said, ‘At least let me be an enemy,’ they understood that when I got into a beef, it was never driven by emotion. Instead, I was moving off of strategy.”
