Gayle King Explains Why She Needed to Report Charlie Rose's Firing from 'CBS This Morning'

Gayle King makes an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night (November 21) in New York City.

The CBS This Morning co-host wrapped up a difficult day, which started with her having to report on her co-worker Charlie Rose being fired from their show amid sexual misconduct allegations from eight women.

Gayle had booked her appearance on The Late Show weeks ago to promote Oprah’s Favorite Things, but she decided not to cancel on the show.

“That’s what you have to do,” Gayle said about wanting to cancel at first. “To be honest with you, it still isn’t easy. It’s still very painful, it’s still very hurtful. Charlie and I have worked together, been friends, but when you think about the anguish of those women, despite the friendship, you still have to report the news.”

Gayle added that she was “wincing” during Stephen‘s monologue, but he said it was his job to report the story in the way he did.

“I thought about that too. It’s interesting, when you were doing the monologue about other people, I’m like, ‘Ha ha ha.’ And then it was Charlie, and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s a friend. I don’t like that, that’s difficult.’ And then I think about what these women were going through… I don’t like that either,” she added.