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Gayle King is staying on CBS Mornings despite speculation she planned to exit later this year.
“Rumors of my demise were inaccurate and greatly exaggerated,” King, 71, said in a statement to Variety on Wednesday, March 4. “CBS News is my longtime home, and I am committed to our mission.”
She added: “I’m excited about continuing at CBS Mornings. As always, I’m open to new adventures here and ready to go. It took a minute, but we got there. And now that we are here, I am all in.” (The Wall Street Journal was first to report the news.)
In October 2025, Variety reported that King was expected to exit her role as anchor on the CBS morning show in 2026 amid the network’s overhaul following the Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger.
With her contract set to expire in May 2026, the outlet claimed that King could potentially remain at the news organization but in a different position.
Amid the chatter about King’s future at the network, a CBS News spokesperson told Us Weekly in a statement at the time, “There have been no discussions with Gayle about her contract that runs through May 2026. She’s a truly valued part of CBS and we look forward to engaging with her about the future.”
King, for her part, addressed the speculation about her CBS Mornings role the day after the Variety report made headlines.
Gayle King is keeping a 12-year-old tradition alive. King, 69, celebrated her 12th anniversary on CBS Mornings on Tuesday, January 9, by wearing the same yellow and white color-block Alexandra Kramer dress she wore on her first day exactly 12 years before. As longtime viewers of CBS Mornings might already know, this is an annual […]
“All I can say is this: From what I’m being told inside this building … that they want me here, [and] they like the job I’m doing,” she told TMZ in October 2025. “I like the job I’m doing. I like the job and the people that I work with, so I don’t know what to tell you.”
She added, “What I’m hearing in the building is not what I’m hearing in the press, and what I’m not gonna do is negotiate in the media. Not doing that.”
King emphasized that she had “no idea” what would happen during her eventual contract discussions with the network, concluding, “All I know is I am here and glad to be here.”
King has been an anchor on CBS Mornings since 2012. She has been the mainstay host of the morning show after helming the program alongside Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell, then Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil, and now Doukoupil, 44, and Nate Burleson.
Rumors about King’s place in the CBS Mornings lineup came amid a recent flurry of changes at the network surrounding the Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger. CBS notably announced the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in July, with the late night program set to conclude its run in May 2026. CBS News has also parted ways with several on-air journalists, including CBS Evening News coanchor John Dickerson, who confirmed his impending exit in October.
“Local news: At the end of the year, I will leave CBS, 16 years after I sat in as Face the Nation anchor for the first time,” Dickerson, 57, wrote via Instagram at the time. “I am extremely grateful for all that CBS gave me — the work, the audience’s attention and the honor of being a part of the network’s history — and I am grateful for my dear colleagues who’ve made me a better journalist and a better human. I will miss you.”
