Gayle King quotes gay slur during Matteo Lane interview on live TV

Before she blasts off into space, media personality Gayle King is shaking the table here on Earth, as the CBS Mornings host quoted Matteo Lane and used an uncensored gay slur during a live TV interview with the comedian.

The stand-up appeared on the talk show Thursday to promote his new book Your Pasta Sucks, which he said exemplified his penchant for “being funny in the kitchen” in addition to his work as a comic on stage — which King excitedly said she wanted to discuss with him.

“Can we talk about the stand-up? Can I just say one joke? I hope I don’t get in trouble,” King said before moving forward with the quote. “You do a riff about white women who approached you, and they said something about cooking, and you said, ‘What in the f—-try are you talking about?'”

The show didn’t censor the word on the live telecast or when the clip was uploaded to YouTube, though the network deleted the video from the website after Entertainment Weekly reached out for comment on Friday. The footage (which is still available on user-shared recordings on X) sees Lane laughing with his hand over his mouth, as King exclaimed, “I thought that was hilarious. What does that mean?”

Lane responded: “I love you, Gayle King. It means exactly what you think it means. White women, they’re fine during the day, but they have one sip of a rosé and they’re like, ‘Tonight’s about me!’ They won’t stop, I’m telling you. Horrible.”

Lane has yet to address the exchange, though he did share a censored version on his Instagram page.

EW has reached out to representatives for King at CBS Mornings and Lane for comment on both the usage of the word and the clip’s removal from the CBS Mornings YouTube channel.

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The internet reacted to the moment with differing opinions. Bob the Drag Queen, Lane’s friend and the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 8, and star of The Traitors season 3, reposted a clip of the interview to social media, where the drag entertainer called King’s words “honestly iconic.”

Another user on X, however, shared shock over the quote. “Did Gayle King just say that out loud on National TV!!!!!!” they wrote. “I’m GAGGED! Literally jaw dropped!”