Gayle King's a legend in her own right but who knew she'd ever become a meme? She surely didn't. In a recent interview with Desus & Mero, King recounted her volatile interview with R. Kelly this year ahead of his arrest that sparked numerous memes and gifs across the internet. Mero asked King about how she handled the interview where R. Kelly was "wildin' the fuck out." She explained that she didn't think that he was going to hurt her intentionally but she did admit there was a chance she felt that she'd get caught in the middle of it.
"I never thought that he was going to hurt me, guys," he said before she motioned to R. Kelly punching his palm. "I thought he might accidentally hurt me and I was worried about that because he's, you know, you could tell that he hits hard," she continued. She then detailed that he was spitting when she talked and eventually, a drop of spit landed on her lip. Mero appropriately responded, "Oh no! Not R. Kelly's spit!"
“So I just sat there like this thinking, ‘I don’t want to move.’ If somebody does that to you, you can just very gracefully or discreetly go like that, but I knew I couldn’t make any sudden movements because he was very amped up, as you see," she said. “I really think that we were watching him having a breakdown in real time. I really do. Somebody said, 'Gayle, he played you. He was just faking.' I do not think that was a fake. I don't."
On the topic of becoming a meme, King did admit that she never thought she'd see the day where she'd become one.