Gayle King Gives Damning Hint She's Sweating The End Of Her CBS Contract

After assuring TMZ that she wasn't losing a wink of sleep over rumors that her CBS contract might not be renewed, Gayle King is starting to sound a little unsure. The veteran journalist, who has anchored "CBS Mornings" since 2012, is said to be getting kicked to the curb by CBS amid ongoing contract negotiations, according to insiders who spoke with The New York Post. For a while, she seemed confident about her future at the network. "All I've been told by everybody in this building is that they want me here, they like the job I'm doing, I like the job I'm doing," King told TMZ when pressed for a statement. "I don't know what to tell you," she adds. "What I'm hearing in the building is not what I'm reading in the press. And what I'm not going to do is negotiate in the media."

However, now King is starting to show the slightest crack in her composure. In November 2025, she appeared on "Watch What Happens Live" with Andy Cohen, where the media personality (and Oprah's BFF) addressed the swirling rumors about her future at CBS. "What have you heard?" King asked Cohen (via People). "All I can say is I love my job. I hear one thing inside the building and hear something else outside of the building." Seems like someone hired a PR manager! She then played coy, saying, "So, I'm like, you know, all will be revealed [in time]. All will be revealed." When Cohen asked if it was true her contract expires in May 2026, King responded in the affirmative before joking, "Do you need [an] assistant?" Tiffany Haddish, who appeared as a guest in the episode alongside King, suggested they should just collaborate and do a show about "man-hunting or something." Now that's something we're interested in! But for now, we'll just have to wait and see.

A spokesperson for CBS News previously issued a statement denying any plans to part ways with Gayle King to Variety in October 2025. "There have been no discussions with Gayle about her contract that runs through May 2026," the representative insisted. "She's a truly valued part of CBS and we look forward to engaging with her about the future."

According to reports, King's hefty $10 million salary is a major factor in why network executives are considering whether to end or extend her contract. Some say her seven-figure pay is proving hard to justify given the show's declining ratings; however, there have also been rumors that King's "too woke" programming was causing friction with CBS amid ongoing structural changes after Paramount Global, which owns CBS News, was acquired by Skydance Media in August 2025. "The audience doesn't want woke. It doesn't like progressive and provocative bookings," an insider told The New York Post. "The morning show audience wants optimism and cheer and joy and what they were producing is at odds with audience expectations."

As it stands, there's reportedly a lot of "internal politics" going on at CBS among its executives and producers. As one staffer told: "It's the 'Hunger Games.'" But King, even as she faces uncertainty about her future, remains very optimistic. "I'll continue to do the best job I can and hope it's appreciated," she told HBR when asked how she's navigating the shift. "The rules of the game may change, but until I know how, I'm not going to walk around afraid or like my hair is on fire." She then adds, "I'm just waiting to see what that means. I'm for anybody that can make CBS better. But what does that look like?"