The salary talks are finally over.
After more than six weeks of headline-making negotiations that dragged on and on, Gayle King has inked a deal with CBS News worth at least $11 million a year, Page Six reported on May 4.
According to the New York Post's gossip column, Gayle — who will continue to anchor "CBS This Morning" — has more than doubled her salary, which was around $5 million a year, though a network insider told Page Six that Gayle could actually now be making even more.
Back in March, Page Six reported that Gayle was "poised to sign a new multimillion-dollar contract" but after weeks of protracted talks, staffers started to fear that the network didn't have the money to keep her.
They were finally able to do a deal after making some big changes on the network's morning show and evening news broadcast: Gayle will remain at "This Morning" while co-anchor Norah O'Donnell is leaving for "CBS Evening News," where she'll replace Jeff Glor, who's being pushed out.
Changes to the lineup will be announced on May 6, Page Six reported.
In a The Hollywood Reporter cover story interview published on April 30, Gayle's best friend, Oprah Winfrey, admitted that she encouraged Gayle not to settle for less than she wanted.
"I said, 'Get what you want. Get exactly what you want, because now's the time. And if you don't get what you want, then make the next right move,'" Oprah told THR.
Oprah even called Gayle's attorney to advocate for her friend. "I actually called up her lawyer, Allen Grubman, and I said, 'Allen, she should get what she wants.' And Allen goes, 'What the F do you think I'm doing here? I said the same thing to her!'"
Gayle delivered a ratings success in early March with a headline-making R. Kelly interview in which the R&B star addressed multiple sexual assault allegations against him. Gayle famously kept her cool as the music star riled himself up.
"[The R. Kelly interview] could not have been better if I had done that myself. I think every interviewer thinks, 'What would you have done in that moment?' And what she did was absolute perfection," Oprah told THR. "I just thought that for this moment to happen at the time when she's also in the middle of negotiations is unbelievable — but she's always had that [gift]."