NBA legend and TV personality Charles Barkley has slammed CNN after the network reportedly pulled the plug on King Charles, his low-rated talk show with Gayle King, after just six months, RadarOnline.com has learned.
"You know the type of boneheads I work with?" Barkley said on an episode of The Mike Missanelli Podcast on Thursday, per The New York Post. "First of all, it wasn’t canceled. I talk to Gayle all the time. They haven't told us we were canceled. That’s how stupid these people are."
King Charles aired 14 episodes, averaging just 459,000 total viewers and 106,000 in the 25-54 demographic. When the show debuted in November, CNN said they planned to air it through the early spring, and Barkley has insisted that it was only meant to be a temporary gig.
"I was gonna do a short little window and go back to the NBA," he explained. "But that just shows you how full of s--- the whole thing is with CNN. Like, we had new people take over and we in disarray. Like, yesterday they put an article out that CNN had its worst ratings ever since like 1992."
CNN has reportedly seen ratings decline precipitously as the channel attempts to turn things around under their new corporate management by Warner Bros. Discovery.
"Morale sucks. Plain and simple. I just feel so bad for the people I work with," Barkley added. "These people have families, and I just really feel bad for them right now. You know, these people I work with, they screwed this thing up clearly, and we don’t have zero idea of what’s going to happen."
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Co-hosts King and Barkley praised working with each other as signed off their show for the last time in April.
"I will say this: I have loved working with you and something tells me Charles, this will not be the last time that we’re working together," King said. "Call me Gayle," the former NBA star joked in response.
"We will see you the next time whenever we see you. Thanks so much for being with us for the past six months. We had a blast," King added.
