A clip from an interview Julia Roberts did with Gayle King has been doing the rounds online.
The A+E Networks and History Channel’s HISTORYTalks September chat saw Roberts reveal a surprising fact about herself — that Martin Luther King Jr. and the his wife, Coretta Scott King, paid the hospital bill when she was born.
The clip resurfaced online as Roberts turned 55 on October 28.
“Let’s start with the day you were born — who paid for the hospital bill?” King questioned in the clip, as Roberts praised: “Her research is very good.”
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Roberts explained how her parents, Walter and Betty Roberts, “couldn’t pay for the hospital bill,” so the King family sorted it.
The actress recalled, “My parents had a theatre school in Atlanta called the Actors and Writers Workshop, and one day Coretta Scott King called my mother and asked if her kids could be part of the school because they were having a hard time finding a place that would accept her kids.
“And my mom is like, ‘Sure come on over.’ And so they just all became friends, and they helped us out of a jam.”
Today is Julia Roberts birthday! 55 years ago MLK and Coretta Scott King paid for her parents hospital bill after she was born. Can’t stop thinking about this since I read it. Here she is talking about it with @GayleKing https://t.co/5HvpNSUIYb pic.twitter.com/147x6d807W
— Zara Rahim (@ZaraRahim) October 28, 2022
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King pointed out, “Yeah, because in the ’60s, you didn’t have little Black children interacting with little white kids in acting school. And your parents were like, ‘Come on in.’ I think that’s extraordinary, and it sort of lays the groundwork for who you are.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Roberts responded.
The Kings’ youngest child, Bernice King, noticed the clip doing the rounds, and praised her parents.
“Grateful that #JuliaRoberts shared this story with @GayleKing and that so many people have been awed by it,” she wrote.
“I know the story well, but it is moving for me to be reminded of my parents’ generosity and influence. #CorettaScottKing #MLK.”
Grateful that #JuliaRoberts shared this story with @GayleKing and that so many people have been awed by it.
I know the story well, but it is moving for me to be reminded of my parents’ generosity and influence.#CorettaScottKing #MLK pic.twitter.com/Hn9yOVxYIL
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) October 31, 2022