The journalist also opened up to Stephen Colbert about the superstar celebrities who've reached out after her R. Kelly interview.
Gayle King is getting a lot of praise from her colleagues and fellow journalists in the wake of her explosive interview with R. Kelly -- even some journalists who apparently don't know who she is.
Sitting down with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show Thursday night, the host asked King about an embarrassing incident with Fox News political commentator Jesse Watters on Wednesday.
During an episode of the Fox News panel talk show The Five, Watters said, "Hats off to Gayle King for totally redeeming herself after the [Jussie] Smollett fiasco." However, it was journalist Robin Roberts who famously interviewed Smollett about his alleged attack, not King.
"I couldn't believe it," King said with a laugh. "So many people started sending this to me, because I normally don't watch Fox News, unless I'm just curious to see what's going on and what other people are thinking."
Immediately after Watters' mistake, his co-host Dana Perino corrected him, quickly adding, "That was not Gayle King. Robin Roberts did the Smollett interview."
"So I emailed Dana, who I don't know, I got her email and I said, 'Hi, I just wanted to thank you for letting your colleague know that Robin Roberts and I -- it was a great compliment, but thank you for letting him know that we're two different people,'" King recalled to Colbert. "'And could you let the rest of your colleagues know that all black people do not look alike.'"
"It's good to remind them every so often," Colbert joked, taking a swipe at Fox News' famously conservative pundits. According to King, Perino wrote back and said it was nice to meet her, and that they "had a little joke about it."
"I hope to meet her one day, because I think that was really nice of her to do," King added.
Watters, ultimately, apologized after being corrected, and again at the end of that episode of The Five, when he held up a small dry erase white board on which he'd written, "I’m sorry Gayle + Robin."
The accolades King has been receiving for her powerful interview with Kelly -- who is currently facing charges on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, among other charges -- aren't just from other journalists, but family, friends, and even megastar celebrities.
Right as King sat down across from Colbert, she excitedly revealed that she'd just gotten a personal phone call from iconic musician Elton John moments before coming out onto stage.
"In the green room, Elton John called me!" King exclaimed. "It was a 212 number that I didn't recognize, so I thought it was work… and he goes, 'Gayle, it's Elton here.' And I go, 'Elton John?! Hi, Elton!' And he was calling to talk about the R. Kelly interview. I thought that it was so nice that he called."
"Yeah, he calls a lot of my guests," Colbert quipped.
For more on King's headline-grabbing sit-down with Kelly that aired on CBS This Morning this week, check out the video below.
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