Gayle King Says R. Kelly’s Spit Landed On Her In Interview

It’s been months since Gayle King conducted her explosive interview with R. Kelly that rocked television ratings and social media, and it seems like there’s more to the story than we previously knew.

The journalist and television personality shared new details about the legendary sit-down during her recent appearance on Showtime’s Desus & Mero. King reflected on the interview, and said one of the crazier moments not caught on camera was when spit from the disgraced singer’s mouth landed on her face during his on-air meltdown.

“No one has done that to me,” King says of the now-infamous outburst. “I never thought that he was gonna hurt me. But when he was [punching his hand in his fist], I thought he was going to accidentally hurt me,” King described. “I was worried about that. You could tell he could hit hard. But he was spitting, it was flying all over the place, and his spit fell on my lip. I just sat there thinking, ‘I don’t wanna move.’ If somebody does that to you, you can gracefully [wipe your lip], but I knew I didn’t want to make any sudden movements because he was very amped up.

“I really think we were watching him have a breakdown in real-time,” she continued. “I don’t think that was fake. I don’t. I never thought I’d be a meme. I wasn’t trying to be a meme. Had it happened to me younger, I would’ve been very afraid. But I really wasn’t. I didn’t think he wanted to hurt me.”

Sounds like it was even more intense in person than we saw on TV.

Watch the full interview segment below.