In the summer of 2024, a rumor circulated online that “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King had filed a lawsuit against her decades-long friend, entertainment icon Oprah Winfrey. According to the rumor, the alleged lawsuit related to criminal allegations against rapper and recording artist Sean “Diddy” Combs.
On September 22, for example, a Snopes reader asked by email: “IIs it true that Gayle King is suing Oprah over the allegations against P. ‘Diddy’? I saw something on Facebook.”
However, this rumor was false. Furthermore, all claims that King and Winfrey were involved in Combs’ alleged crimes are baseless.
The federal indictment against Diddy
This rumor spread in the days before and after Combs’ arrest on September 16. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York charged Includes charges of conspiracy to commit organized crime, sex trafficking, and transportation for the purpose of prostitution.
The Associated Press reported on September 21:
Sean “Diddy” Combs created a hit empire with big-name artists, earned his place as an accomplished music mogul, became a three-time Grammy winner, and simultaneously secured high-profile contracts in other industries.
But now Combs’ empire is collapsing under allegations of sex trafficking and organized crime. He was arrested in New York on September 16 and accused in an indictment of abusing his “power and reputation” to lure female victims and male sex workers into “freak offs.” There are also allegations of abuse dating back to 2008.
If convicted, Combs faces at least 15 years in prison. He is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty.
A Facebook page managed from Indonesia spread the rumor
The false rumor about King, Winfrey and Combs came from videos posted by dubious gossip sites about black celebrities, primarily on Facebook. All of the videos contained fake comments created by an artificial intelligence tool, meaning a human used the tool to convert text into spoken words.
For example, on August 12, Billy Benjamin’s Facebook page – whose eight page managers live in Indonesia, according to the Page Transparency tab – posted a 43-second video (archived) titled “Gayle King files suit against Oprah Winfrey over ‘Diddy’ schemes.” The video was viewed 355,000 times. Other videos on the same page made similar claims and were also viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
Without citing a source for his information, the video’s AI narrator said:
Today we dive into a sensational story that is rocking the media world. Rumors are circulating that Gayle King has filed a lawsuit against her longtime friend Oprah Winfrey, accusing Oprah of implicating her in “Diddy’s” ongoing scandal. Let’s unravel this story of friendship, drama and legal battles.
Oprah and Gayle have been together since the 1970s and are admired for their loyalty and support. But recently, things have taken a shocking turn. Diddy’s recent scandal – full of serious allegations – has somehow drawn Oprah into the mix and caused quite a stir.
Now Gayle’s name has surfaced and she has taken legal action, claiming Oprah’s comments inadvertently damaged her reputation.
There was no evidence to support the claim that King sued Winfrey or that Winfrey “involved” her in Combs’ alleged criminal activities. Hypothetically, if there was even a shred of truth to this claim — if King had filed suit, for example — reputable entertainment media would likely have interviewed the parties involved and documented the incident. But that did not happen.
In short, the claim appeared to be fabricated to gain online views.
Photos of celebrities posing together
Although the claims underlying the videos were false, the clips about King, Oprah and Combs could potentially appear credible because there are photos of Winfrey and Combs as well as King and Combs. However, images of two or more famous people together at a public event demonstrate only one thing: that two or more people agreed to pose for a photo.
With this mix of real photos and misleading information – as well as emotionally charged language – such videos containing unsubstantiated celebrity rumors often generate hundreds or thousands of comments from online users. Some of these comments suggest that people interpreted the videos as real news. These rumors later spread in online comments elsewhere, although the users who shared them did not provide any evidence to support their claims.
This wasn’t the first misleading rumor about Combs to catch the attention of social media users. For example, we previously debunked the false claim that Bishop TD Jakes resigned from his post as senior pastor of Dallas megachurch The Potter’s House because of a connection to the allegations against Combs.
