Well, that was unexpected.
On February 11, Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper joined Gayle King and her CBS Mornings cohosts, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson, to chat about her latest business venture, a new partnership with Sirius XM Radio. It was a bit of a role reversal for Cooper, whose laid-back interview style (often including sweatsuits and comfy couches) has earned her millions of listeners.
However, things took a turn about three-and-a-half minutes into the interview, which you can watch below, when King followed up a run-of-the-mill question about the evolution of Cooper’s career with, “What’s your favorite sex position with [your husband] Matt?”
Cooper, ever the pro, played it off well, turning to the camera and exclaiming, “Oh my God, Gayle! Are we allowed to talk about that?” (Off camera, Burleson answered: “The producer said no.”)
King defended her shocking, NSFW question by adding, “I’m making a point here, because this is what Alex does on her show,” she said. “She’s gotten Katy Perry to talk about her love language, she’s gotten Hailey Bieber to talk about her favorite sex position, Simone Biles about her mental health.”
“I did that facetiously,” she continued.
Sure, I see what King was trying to do here, but in reality it came across as disrespectful. The bit added nothing to the interview, which was meant to focus on Cooper’s new business deal, and felt like the kind of “gotcha” you might expect from a tabloid, not an esteemed news organization. Especially at a time when misogyny is ramping up in the culture, the last thing we need is to reduce a powerful, successful woman like Cooper to her sexual proclivities—facetiously or not.
King followed up by asking Cooper about the “method to your madness,” wondering, “How do you get people to talk to you?”
Cooper replied, “I ask those questions, but there’s a lot that goes into it prior to that. I’m not asking that as the first question of the interview; there’s rapport that I build with these people.”
In a bit of a meta learning moment, she added, “It’s asked in the appropriate way at the right time. I’m reading the room, I’m being self-aware; it’s not like I’m making someone uncomfortable. I’ve been interviewed a lot of times and I can recognize when someone is not reading the room, and you’re like, That was not an appropriate question to ask.”
“That’s what I take pride in, is making my audience feel comfortable and my guests feel comfortable,” Cooper said.
Cooper appeared on CBS Mornings to discuss her new partnership with Sirius XM radio, which includes two new daily live programs. “One is gonna be a pop culture show, and the other one is a call-in where you can ask me advice, you can tell me all your crazy stories, and I will be on the phone answering.”
Ironically, just before King’s awkward delivery, Cooper discussed the risks of a live show: “I’m surprised Sirius is letting me do this,” she joked. Can’t wait to get the full scoop on the back-and-forth when Alex Cooper inevitably interviews Gayle King on her pod.
The post Alex Cooper and Gayle King’s Interview Took a Wild, NSFW Turn appeared first on Glamour.
