Gayle King 'open to new adventures' as she confirms future at CBS: 'Rumors of my demise were inaccurate'

Gayle King remains loyal to CBS, even amid the network's turmoil.

The first few months of Bari Weiss' new chapter at CBS have been filled with shake-ups and scandals, from Tony Dokoupil's blunder-riddled CBS Evening News debut, the temporary yanking of Sharyn Alfonsi's 60 Minutes piece on CECOT — which made its way online despite the network initially axing it — the exits of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, former anchors of CBS Evening News, and Anderson Cooper's.

But the CBS Mornings anchor, who has been with the network since November 2011, won't be joining the wave of departures.

© Getty Images

In a statement provided to HELLO!, Gayle, who has inked a new deal with CBS, declared: "Rumors of my demise were inaccurate and greatly exaggerated."

"CBS News is my longtime home, and I am committed to our mission," she emphasized. "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," she added.

© CBS Photo Archive

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari — who has no prior broadcast experience and who scored her new gig when Paramount Skydance's CEO David Ellison bought her four-year-old platform The Free Press for $150 million — also said in a statement: "There is only one Gayle King. We're so proud that she'll continue to call CBS home."

"We're thrilled to have her on in the morning — and equally excited to work with her on new, enterprising projects that bring her talents to new audiences," she further shared. 

Gayle's commitment to CBS comes just two months before her contract was set to expire, and over a year since rumors first started that she would be leaving the network, which she had previously denied. 

© Getty Images

In October, after reports suggested she was stepping down from her role at CBS Sunday Mornings, but taking another role within the network, CBS maintained there had been no discussions about Gayle's contract. "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," she also told TMZ at the time.

© Getty Images for Warner Bros. Di

"I don't know what to tell you," she added. "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 … All I know is I am here and glad to be here."

Gayle will continue to host CBS Mornings, which she co-anchors with Nate Burleson; it's unclear whether there is an active search to add a third anchor since Tony's departure for the flagship evening program.