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TV Anchor Fires Back at Critics Who Called Her World Cup Outfit Heinous

The longtime host said she didn’t realize the event “had become such a fashion show.”

Tomas ThorBreaking News Intern

PublishedJul 22, 2026, 5:54 PM EDT

UpdatedJul 22, 2026, 5:56 PM EDT

Updated Jul 22, 2026, 5:56 PM EDTPublished Jul 22, 2026, 5:54 PM EDT

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Gayle King isn’t losing sleep over being deemed one of the worst-dressed celebrities at the 2026 FIFA World Cup final.

The 71-year-old CBS Mornings host used Tuesday’s broadcast to fire back at a publication that labeled her all-white outfit “frumpy,” “dowdy,” and “boring” following the Argentina-Spain match at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.

“Not only was I on the list, they said I led the list,” King said, relaying the unspecified publication’s criticism aloud.

She continued, “I didn’t realize that the World Cup had become such a fashion show. I really didn’t get it, not that I’m sensitive or anything about it.”

King also shut down the outlet’s claims that her pants were wrinkled, noting that her 39-year-old son, William “Will” Bumpus Jr., had ironed them before the match.

“He said the pockets were a little dicey because [he] doesn’t know how to iron,” she joked.

When asked to identify the publication in question, King shot back, “I am not even going to name them.”

King read out the other names on the worst-dressed list.

“Kylie Jenner, who was wearing a black outfit—they called that ‘underwhelming,’” she said. Jenner attended the finals with her boyfriend, actor Timothée Chalamet.

Actress Blake Lively was included because “she had way too much going on,” according to the list.

The It Ends With Us star cheered for Argentina alongside her friends Emma Gray, Stoney Clover, and sisters Kendall and Libby Glazer.

“I think all these women look great,” King said with a smile. “I’m in very good company.”

Winnie Harlow, too, appeared on the unspecified outlet’s style report, though King noted that the 31-year-old model’s own all-white outfit was deemed “overboard,” yet “also made the best-dressed list, too.”

King has spent decades as one of television’s most recognizable journalists, earning acclaim for her anchor role on CBS Mornings, which she joined in 2012.

King’s future with the network appeared uncertain after The New Republic founder Bari Weiss joined CBS as editor-in-chief in October 2025.

Under Weiss’s leadership, several longstanding franchises have been upended, and the network has seen the departures or firings of longtime correspondents and producers.

In March, however, King told the Wall Street Journal that the “rumors of my demise were inaccurate and greatly exaggerated.”

STILL A MORNING PERSON

Gayle King Hits Back at Rumors She’s Leaving ‘CBS Mornings’

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“CBS News is my longtime home, and I am committed to our mission,” she said. “I’m excited about continuing at ‘CBS Mornings.’ As always, I’m open to new adventures here and ready to go. It took a minute, but we got there. And now that we are here, I am all in.”

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Tomas ThorBreaking News Intern

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