Nearly 40 years after breaking up a happy home, William Bumpus Sr. is back in the spotlight, issuing a public apology to his ex-wife, CBS powerhouse Gayle King. His apology of regret comes directly after King sat down on the Call Her Daddy podcast and dropped explicit details about the exact moment she caught her then-husband cheating with her close friend back in 1990!
In a statement to TMZ, Mr. Bumpus took full accountability for his past actions, acknowledging that King has every right to put their history on blast. “My deepest apologies to Gayle, to our daughter Kirby and her husband Virgil, to our son William and his wife Elise, and to our three grandchildren, for the pain I caused decades ago,” Bumpus said. He made it clear that he isn’t dodging the bullet, adding, “Those actions were mine. I have long owned them.”
The dramatic walk down memory lane started when King got incredibly candid with host Alex Cooper, detailing a cancelled flight that brought her home early on June 24, 1990. King recalled arriving at the house to find the alarm set, a major red flag since Bumpus never set it. Seconds later, Mr. Bumpus came running out of the room wearing nothing but a towel, trying to block her entry. When King pushed past him to search the house, she found her close friend “cowering behind the door” wrapped in one of King’s own bath sheets.
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According to King, the betrayal ran deep because she was completely blindsided, happily balancing a thriving anchor career while even paying for Bumpus to get his law degree at Yale. After a chaotic confrontation that included local police arriving at the scene and asking for King’s autograph, Bumpus actually left King alone at the house to drop the woman off at a train station.
King immediately phoned her lifelong best friend Oprah Winfrey, who broke down just how messy the situation truly was, helping King realize the gravity of the disrespect.
Though the couple attempted counseling and briefly reconciled, they officially called it quits in 1993 after King realized the paranoia was changing her character. Decades later, Bumpus claims the exes have managed to build a successful co-parenting relationship and are “in a good place” today.
While he admits he struggled with the spotlight of King’s public life during their 11-year marriage, he concluded his statement by calling himself a “genuine admirer and fan” of her massive success.
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Gayle King tells Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper about the moment she CAUGHT her husband cheating with one of her best friends after coming home unannounced 😳👀 pic.twitter.com/AXVwkyjdkj
— Killa 🌺 (@KillaKreww) May 27, 2026