Gayle King Is A Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Model

You go girl! 

In a major development nobody in the pop culture world saw coming, or asked for, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit editorial team chose 69-year-old Gayle King as a cover model for this year's edition. 

King is joined by SI swimsuit veterans Kate Upton, Chrissy Teigen and Hunter McGrady as cover models for the 60th edition of the swimsuit issue. In an interview with Drew Barrymore that was released this morning on CBS This Morning, Gayle claimed she "couldn't believe" her name was picked as a cover model. 

"I'm floating, I can't believe it," Gayle told Barrymore. "It’s just… I’m so honored to be included in this class."

Oprah's best friend, who rode Oprah's coattails to the cover of SI never thought anything like this would happen in her lifetime. "My grandmother said to me [when I was little], ‘Mother nature was not as kind to you as she was to other little girls. Maybe you need to start wearing makeup.’ I just never saw myself this way," Gayle continued. 

In what is clearly a coordinated media deal with ViacomCBS, Gayle got the nod over say, oh, Elle Macpherson, Christie Brinkley, or Bar Refaeli. Have you seen the content Bar has been pumping out? She could've easily gotten into a bikini for the cover, but then it wouldn't have led to a three-segment blitz on CBS This Morning which will then turn into a conversation between Gayle and Oprah, which will then turn into a segment on people body shaming Gayle, which will then turn into a CBS think-piece on the state of pop culture. 

It's all a work, folks. 

What's your reaction to Gayle King making the cover of the iconic magazine we used to cherish?

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