Gayle King has come under fire for asking kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart about how she was raped as a teenager and how she would later learn to become intimate with her husband.
The longtime CBS News anchor sat down with Smart, now 38, to ask about her transformation into a bodybuilder when she started the inappropriate questions.
‘You revealed later on, after being kidnapped at 14, that you were raped every single day. You had no sexual experience at that time,’ King began on CBS Mornings.
‘Someone asked me, “Why didn’t she get pregnant during that time?” Do you know why you never got pregnant during that time?’ she then said, quickly adding that she is ‘very glad you didn’t.’
‘I’m very glad I didn’t either,’ Smart replied, before sharing some intimate details.
‘Honestly, I’m just a late bloomer,’ she explained. ‘I didn’t start my period until I was in captivity, and I mean towards the end of my captivity.’
Apparently satisfied with the explanation, King then went on to ask how Smart was ‘able to learn to trust’ and have three children with her husband.
‘Well, rape and loving intimacy are two different things,’ Smart replied, stammering as she spoke. ‘And that’s always been just so clear between my husband and I.’
Gayle King has come under fire for asking kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart some intimate questions on Monday
Smart, 38, sat down with the CBS Mornings anchor to discuss her reinvention as a bodybuilder
When King then asked Smart how she did not get pregnant when she was raped as a teenager, and about her sex life with her husband, netizens lashed out
The awkward moment quickly drew backlash.
‘Why the invasive questions about her attacker???? The world knows, why bring it up!!’ one X user posted, calling it ‘rude.’
Another said she ‘had to leave the interview after Gayle King started asking her how Elizabeth managed to gain intimacy with her husband,’ while a third slammed King as being ‘so cold.’
‘How do you make that statement of rape like all the other questions and statements,’ she wrote. ‘It’s unreal to listen to her.’
But, the user said, ‘Elizabeth is so strong and amazing.’
Smart was abducted as a teenager when Brian David Mitchell, a street preacher, climbed into her room in Salt Lake City, Utah, through an open window and held her at knife point.
To keep her from escaping, she was tied up with steel cables in a dugout filled with mice and spiders.
Smart was forced to take drugs and drink alcohol, she testified in 2009, and was raped daily, as often as four times a day.
Smart was just 14 years old when she was abducted from her home at knife point in 2002
Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee were taken into custody in 2003 for abducting Smart and holding her captive for nine months
Meanwhile, Smart said, Mitchell’s wife, Wanda Barzee, stood by while he raped her and even encouraged him to continue the heinous acts.
The teenager was finally rescued after a couple recognized Mitchell and Barzee from an episode of America’s Most Wanted as they walked down the street with her.
In the years since, Smart has become an advocate for women’s and children’s safety.
The married mom-of-three has written a book about the harrowing ordeal and helped make a Lifetime movie and documentary about the crime and her life.
She is also now an award-winning bodybuilder, placing first in her category at the Wasatch Warrior bodybuilding competition on April 18 and ranking third in the Fit Model Masters 35+ category.
Smart, now married, was rescued after a couple recognized Barzee and Mitchell from America’s Most Wanted
Smart went public with her journey to becoming a bodybuilder in a post on Instagram on April 21, showing her in a bikini that showed off her slim figure and tight muscles.
‘When I posted the pictures in my story of me standing on stage in a bikini, it probably shocked many of you,’ she captioned the Instagram post, before revealing it was actually the fourth competition she has competed in ‘but I was too afraid to post it before.
‘Worried that I would be judged, not taken seriously, somehow perceives as less than or unworthy to continue work as an advocate for all survivors,’ Smart wrote of her fears.
But, she said: ‘My body has carried me through every worst day, every hellish, grueling experience, it’s created and nurtured three beautiful children, my body has risen to every single challenge life has presented it with and carried me through, so I refuse to be ashamed of it.’
She is now an award-winning bodybuilder, which she recently revealed on Instagram
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Smart, though, also explained to King on Monday that she was ‘not sure if I was so much ashamed, but I think there were a lot of things I felt in my line of work.
‘I’ve met so many victims of sexual abuse and violence who feel like their body betrayed them, and we see a lot of just self-harm, eating disorders, feelings of self-loathing, loathing their body,’ she said.
‘And for me doing this, I feel like it has been a celebration of my body because it has carried me through every worst day, every bad experience…
‘And I’m so grateful for my body for bringing me where I am today that I want to celebrate it and I shouldn’t be ashamed that I have taken care of it and worked to build it strong, and I’m very proud of myself.’
Smart also said sharing the photo from the competition made her feel ‘liberated’ because she has always ‘wanted to be taken seriously’ and feel ‘respected.’
‘I feel like, through doing this and like putting this post out there, I feel liberated because I can be more than just one thing,’ she told King.
‘I can be a bodybuilder. I can feel beautiful or sexy and I can still be an advocate for women and children against sexual violence.’
