Gayle King’s ex-husband admits to past mistakes.
William Bumpass released a lengthy statement to Page Six on Wednesday following the “CBS Morning” host’s episode of “Call Daddy,” detailing the moment he caught Bumpass cheating on him with his best friend while they were married.
“I sincerely apologize to Gail, my daughter Kirby and her husband Virgil, my son William and his wife Elise, and my three grandchildren for the pain I caused decades ago,” he began. “Those actions were mine.”
Bumpass went on to say that Dr. King “has a right to share the painful events that changed the trajectory of our marriage and family nearly 40 years ago.”
“I respect her right to tell her story. I’ll leave it here,” he added.
Despite his past actions, Bumpass said he remains “infinitely grateful” to Dr. King for giving him “two of the greatest gifts of my life”: his children, daughter Kirby, now 40, and son Will, now 39.
He also praised Mr. King, to whom he was married from 1982 to 1993, for “encouraging and supporting” him throughout his studies at Yale Law School.
“And it was Gail who, with me, chose to co-parent successfully from the beginning. This is a testament to our shared commitment to our children, and now our grandchildren, above all else,” he said. “The love and friendships we built on that job sustained us through the years.”
Bumpass expressed his pleasure to still be on “good terms” with King after all these years, noting that the reporter recently “sent his warm wishes” to his daughter Poet on her 16th birthday, which he said “meant a lot.”
The lawyer said Gail was “inherently a private person” and therefore “didn’t fully understand public life” during their marriage, adding that she had hoped their life would be “more private”. He said he “struggled” with it, but it “doesn’t reflect her true talent or ability.”
In fact, he described himself as a “true admirer and fan” and “has had a front row seat to Gail’s remarkable success.”
“Building on Gail’s years of friendship, encouragement, and support, the love of her grown children and grandchildren, and the daily privilege of raising Poet as a single father, I will continue to strive to be the best version of myself,” he concluded.
On Wednesday’s episode of “Call Her Daddy,” King recalled the shocking moment when his girlfriend “came home and caught[Bumpass]” cheating on host Alex Cooper.
King remembers telling a woman in a towel, “‘I can’t believe you’re here and doing this. I can’t believe you’re doing this.'” And I even said, “I thought we were friends!” It sounded so pathetic. ”
To make matters worse, she set off the house alarm during this moment of confusion, and when the police arrived, recognized her and got her signature, she forced them to leave without realizing what had happened.
“I wanted to say, ‘Can you please take out the trash?’ But I didn’t,” she said. “We just wanted to get them in and out as quickly as possible.”
King first spoke out about the incident in 2016, and Bumpass apologized for his past actions.
