Gayle King says Oprah told her to stop begging Jay-Z for an interview

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — Gayle King says she “groveled” before she scored her recent interview with the press-shy Jay-Z.

King said in an interview with Access Hollywood about her attempts to get a sit down with the mega-star that even her bff Oprah Winfrey thought she should give up on her attempts to get him to talk.

“Even Oprah said, ‘You are making a damn fool of yourself. Stop asking him. He doesn’t want to do it.’ But I couldn’t let it go,” Gayle said. “I don’t know why he said yes or why he changed his mind … I’m just grateful that he did.”

The pair finally met up, and Jay-Z opened up about everything from his career and family life to the hypothetical internet debate about whether a person should choose $500,000 instead of a chance to have lunch with him.

“You’ve gotta take the money. You’ve got all that in the music for $10.99,” he said. “I wouldn’t tell you to cut a bad deal. Like, take the $500,000, go buy some albums, and listen to the albums.”

Jay-Z met up with King for an exclusive tour of “The Book of HOV,” an exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library that explores his work and career. The rare interview aired on CBS.

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