Gayle King Suing Oprah Winfrey Over Diddy: The Rumor & The Truth

Did Gayle King sue Oprah over this Diddy case?

Even before the public learned the gruesome details of the Diddy indictment, speculation was abuzz about who else knew.

A lot of people wonder who knew. Some theories make more sense than others.

What could possibly drive Gayle to sue longtime bestie Oprah, and how could it be related to Diddy? The answer’s actually pretty simple.

Oprah and Gayle King on July 11, 2024.
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King attend at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 11, 2024. (Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Did Gayle sue Oprah over this whole Diddy situation?

Short answer: No.

Long answer:

Backing up, just after Diddy’s September 16 arrest, a rumor began to circulate. We’ll get to the origin in a moment, because that’s important.

The rumor claimed that Gayle King had filed a lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey. The purported lawsuit stemmed from criminal allegations against Diddy, though details were sparse.

Diddy in September of 2023.
Disgraced rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs gestures in the press room during the MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on September 12, 2023. (Photo Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

This rumor is simply untrue in three major ways. The first being that, again, Gayle isn’t suing Oprah over the Diddy case.

The second is that Gayle hasn’t filed a lawsuit against Oprah on any topic. Diddy-related or otherwise.

And perhaps the most important part of this is that neither Gayle King nor Oprah Winfrey have anything to do with any of Diddy’s alleged crimes. The implication of the lawsuit rumor is that one or both of these respected women had some sort of knowledge of or involvement in a massive racketeering and sex trafficking case.

Gayle King and Oprah in February of 2024.
Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey attend the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024. (Photo Credit: Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Where did this malicious rumor originate?

Snopes tracked down the source of the bizarre claims about Gayle, Oprah, and Diddy.

To no one’s surprise, the claim originated on Facebook. Once a meeting place for college students, the social media behemoth has devolved into a favored marketplace to exchange conspiracy theories, misinformation, and more with minimal official moderation.

The investigation found that a Facebook page, whose moderators reside in Indonesia, was pushing this false claim.

Diddy on October 18, 2022.
Sean “Diddy” Combs surprises students at his Capital Preparatory School in the Bronx on October 18, 2022. (Photo Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Sean “Diddy” Combs)

Presumably, this is some sort of content farming — releasing false stories in order to attract attention and unique clicks and thus make money.

Why Oprah and Gayle? First and foremost, because they’re extremely famous, and their friendship has spanned decades.

Additionally, QAnon and adjacent conspiracy theorists believe that virtually every rich or powerful person in the world is engaged in a human trafficking conspiracy that involves demons (or aliens, depending upon whom you ask), consuming a fictional drug that keeps them young, and more.

Oprah and Gayle in December of 2022.
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King attend the 3rd Annual Academy Museum Gala at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, December 3, 2022. (Photo Credit: MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

What charges is Diddy facing?

The Diddy charges are a great opportunity for grifters to lure in gullible conspiracy theorists by naming people, from Kim Kardashian to Justin Bieber, who might be guzzling adrenochrome at Diddy’s parties. (Which, unlike rich men abusing women, is not a real thing that happens)

Authorities arrested Diddy on federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He allegedly used his “power and prestige” to abuse women as far back as 2008. If convicted, he faces at least 15 years in prison.

Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey aren’t involved in any of that. Obviously. But an opportunity to make money through Facebook while smearing two longtime celebrity besties? Clearly, some people couldn’t pass that up.

Gayle King Suing Oprah Winfrey Over Diddy: The Rumor & The Truth was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.