Winfrey said to her longtime friend King, “I went to the emergency room because I couldn’t keep enough water down to get hydrated.”
Regarding Oprah Winfrey’s health, Gayle King is providing an update.
King, 69, decided to FaceTime Winfrey later that day to help correct the record after revealing on CBS Mornings on Tuesday, June 11, that the 70-year-old had been hospitalised due to a stomach illness and dehydration.
As Winfrey addressed her absence from a scheduled appearance on the morning show to discuss her next book club selection, David Wroblewski’s Familiaris, King broke the news of Winfrey’s health.
King verified that the veteran talk show host was not in the hospital in a video that was posted to Instagram. “I never said you were hospitalised, I did say that you had a stomach something, was coming out of both sides, which it was,” remarked King in the clip. Winfrey answered, “I was in the emergency room; I was so dehydrated.” “I had a dry mouth and I couldn’t keep enough water down to get hydrated, so I went to the emergency room for that, and that’s just it.” Then, Winfrey said that she’s “not 100 [percent], I’m on my way to 100,” and that the same virus has also made five members of her family sick.
“The argument I was attempting to make in America was that there needed to be a barrier preventing her from boarding a plane and travelling here. Regarding Winfrey’s absence—which the philanthropist stated was the “first ever” book club pick she had missed—that’s all I was attempting to say, King continued.
Winfrey said, “I was too weak to get on the plane.” The Colour Purple actress urged people to try and avoid contracting the virus by washing their hands, citing that the doctor had informed her that it can be spread via objects like railings and doorknobs.
Here it is: the PEOPLE Puzzler crossword! How soon are you able to solve it? Play right now! In response, Winfrey said, “No, I thought what you were trying to do was explain why I wasn’t there and doing that in a definitive way.” King also asked Winfrey whether she was “offended” by her disclosing the news about her health.
“Everybody I’ve ever known who has access to my email has called me to say, ‘Are you alright?’ Thanks!” She laughed as she added.
“Introducing @oprah’s most recent book club selection, #Familiaris, sans Oprah—a first for @cbsmornings! She was hospitalised for an IV drip due to severe dehydration brought on by a stomach ailment that kept her out of commission,” King wrote as the caption for the photo.
“I thought I clarified that, but the next thing I know, I’m shocked to read headlines declaring that Oprah is in the hospital! (She wasn’t!) And I keep getting calls asking how Oprah is doing. Yes, is the response! Let’s get right to the source now,” the journalist continued. King’s remarks follow her June 11 broadcast remarks about Winfrey, in which she stated, “She had some kind of stomach thing—stomach flu—stuff was coming out of both ends.”
I won’t go into too much detail. She had to have an IV due to dehydration and ended up in the hospital, King added, calling it “a very serious thing” and stating that her buddy needed to take some time off. “She’ll be alright. King said to the audience, “I hope she’s not mad at me for sharing that detail.” “But I wanted to make it clear, though, that it mattered to her and that it really bothered her that she couldn’t be here for you today.”
“Ms. Winfrey is recovering following a stomach virus and received an IV due to dehydration at the recommendation of her doctor,” a representative for the actress told PEOPLE. “She is resting and feeling better every day.”
