Gayle King’s Selfie With Fox News Host Jesse Watters Sparks Online Firestorm

Gayle King's selfie with Fox News' Jesse Watters prompts liberal meltdown

When CBS Morning’s Gayle King posted what looked like a friendly airplane selfie with Fox News host Jesse Watters, she probably didn’t expect to set the internet on fire. But within hours, that single photo — just two smiles and a casual caption — had become the latest social-media battleground in America’s never-ending culture clash.

“Two TV people from competing networks walk onto a plane,” King wrote, before joking that they were surprised to end up sitting next to each other for four hours — and that “a good time was had by all.” On its face, it was lighthearted, even wholesome. But online, the reaction was anything but.


A “Friendly Selfie” That Divided the Internet

The photo shows King leaning in beside Watters, both grinning mid-flight. Nothing scandalous, nothing overtly political — just two media figures making the best of a coincidence. Yet for many on the left, the image landed like a betrayal.

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Critics flooded the comments calling the post “tone-deaf” and “embarrassing,” accusing King of normalizing a figure they see as toxic to public discourse. Some claimed they felt “disappointed” to see one of television’s most respected journalists “getting cozy” with someone long criticized for inflammatory remarks.

But not everyone saw it that way. In fact, a wave of responses celebrated the selfie as a refreshing act of civility in a divided time. “This is exactly what America needs more of,” one commenter wrote. “Two adults with opposing views sharing a seat — and maybe even a laugh. What’s wrong with that?”


Civility or Complicity?

The photo hit a nerve because it symbolizes more than a chance encounter. King and Watters sit on opposite ends of the modern media spectrum — CBS versus Fox News, liberal versus conservative, morning smiles versus primetime outrage.

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For fans of King, the selfie raised an uncomfortable question: when you publicly appear friendly with someone who represents everything your network supposedly pushes against, are you bridging divides or blurring lines?

To many, this wasn’t just about two TV hosts; it was about what the image means. Can famous media figures be friendly across ideological lines without sparking outrage? Or have the lines between professionalism, politics, and perception become too rigid to cross?


The Social-Media Meltdown

Within hours, King’s post was trending across X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Instagram. Memes flooded the timelines. One showed the selfie captioned, “The crossover episode nobody asked for.” Others jokingly asked if CBS and Fox were merging.

Comment sections quickly split into two camps. On one side were those demanding King delete the post and “read the room.” On the other were people insisting that the outrage said more about internet tribalism than about King herself.

By evening, the image had amassed hundreds of thousands of interactions. Gayle King, who’s usually known for her calm, good-humored demeanor, suddenly found herself in the middle of one of the week’s biggest viral debates.


What It Says About 2025

The Gayle-Watters selfie isn’t really about a plane ride. It’s about how even the simplest gestures — a smile, a shared seat, a selfie — can become cultural flashpoints in an era where everything is politicized.

Ten years ago, a photo like this might have been shrugged off as an amusing coincidence. Today, it’s dissected as a statement of values.

And maybe that’s the point. Gayle King didn’t post a manifesto — she posted a moment. But the reaction shows how starved, and simultaneously suspicious, the public has become of any sign of unity.

Whether you see her selfie as brave, naïve, or just harmless fun, it certainly did what few social-media posts manage to do anymore: get everyone talking.