The talk show hosts sat down for an interview with Melinda Gates on her "Moments That Make Us" series ... touching on rumors the two are actually in a long-term, covert relationship.
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00:00Oprah and Gayle not at the Olympics, not yet anyway.
00:03Wouldn't be surprised if they pop up there at some point.
00:05But they are addressing a long, long time rumor.
00:10I mean, for decades now, there have been a lot of buzz
00:13that Gayle and Oprah are more than just friends,
00:16that they are, as we say on TMZ on TV, friends.
00:21Yeah.
00:22Well, they addressed it finally.
00:24Yeah.
00:25They were on Melinda Gates' podcast.
00:27Which is just funny, they did it on Melinda Gates' podcast
00:29because that's, you know, an elevated kind of thing.
00:32Right.
00:33But the conversation came around to the rumor
00:36about them actually being romantically linked.
00:38Here's how they addressed it.
00:40The two of you have navigated these very public lives,
00:44but you obviously have a piece of privacy in your lives, too.
00:48And you stayed true to this friendship.
00:50How have you navigated keeping who you are
00:53and being a public figure?
00:55Is this hard for you or easy?
00:57No, I'm just trying to think how we've navigated.
01:00I was gonna say, what have we not shared?
01:02Okay, so you feel comfortable just sharing everything?
01:05Pretty much.
01:06We shared pretty much everything,
01:07and I would have to say,
01:09it wasn't even a matter of navigation.
01:11Yes.
01:12You know, for years, people used to say we were gay,
01:15or that we were, and listen,
01:17we were up against that forever.
01:20No.
01:21And people still make things.
01:22And I used to say to Oprah,
01:22you gotta do a show on this,
01:24because it's hard enough for me to get a date
01:25on Saturday night with people thinking we're gay.
01:27Yeah.
01:29If we were gay, we would tell you.
01:30I love the way they said that.
01:31But I love the way Gayle just said that.
01:34I just, I mean, because it's so matter of fact
01:37that, yeah, we'd tell you if we were gay.
01:39It's not like they're hiding it.
01:40It's not that they were ashamed of the concept of it.
01:43But I just, I don't know,
01:44the way they handled that, I thought was great.
01:48Yeah.
01:49Yeah, and also, it came off pretty believable.
01:50And Oprah had said, like, look,
01:52people aren't used to seeing women being super close.
01:56And, you know, Oprah and Gayle,
01:58they famously have gone on these amazing vacations together.
02:01They're always laughing together.
02:03Ah, that road trip.
02:04Remember the road trip?
02:05Belmond Louise.
02:06Yes.
02:07And they've been single.
02:08So I think that's why people always thought, like,
02:10oh, is this a little bit more?
02:11Well, Oprah's not single.
02:12No, Oprah's not single.
02:13Oprah's not single.
02:14Well, do we really know what Stedman's role is?
02:16You just cut Stedman completely out of the book.
02:17I totally cut Stedman out.
02:19That was not fair.
02:20That was not right.
02:21But if you guys remember,
02:22in 2013, Oprah actually won an Andy Cohen show,
02:25and he asked her if she's ever dipped in the lady pond,
02:28and she said no.
02:30And then Andy later said that he regretted asking her that.
02:32But she has kind of addressed this over and over the years.
02:36Yes, the first time we've seen them together addressing it,
02:39but they've individually.
02:41I thought they handled it super well.
02:42I really do.
02:44Jasmine from Los Angeles, California.
02:46And I don't think that Gayle and Oprah are gay.
02:51I don't think they would admit it if they were,
02:53because they come from a generation
02:54where respectability politics
02:57and traditional values are really important.
02:59So I don't think they would be upfront in telling us.
03:02But I also think the reason why we believe they're lesbians
03:05is because America is wrapped up in misogyny.
03:08We just can't believe two women could be best friends
03:10and be that open with each other.
03:11I think that's a fair point.
03:13But I gotta challenge you on this,
03:15that you think Oprah and Gayle are that close-minded
03:19that if they were gay, they would never say it
03:21because it might be a moral issue for them?
03:25I think so.
03:26I think that their appearance
03:29and how they appear to the public
03:30is really important to them.
03:32They may pretend like it doesn't matter, but it does.
03:35I think they would be cool if that were the case.
03:38And they don't have anything to risk.
03:41They're so successful.
03:43Nothing to risk.
03:43Nothing to risk.
03:44I gotta go back to something you said, though.
03:46Were you suggesting that Thelma and Louise were gay?
03:50No!
03:51I was kidding.
03:52Oh, all right.
03:53I was thinking of the movie.
03:53I saw the movie completely differently.
03:55I was like, wait a second,
03:56I gotta go back and watch that again.
03:57I was just thinking of the movie.