Julia Roberts Reveals Martin Luther King Jr.’s Surprising Connection With Her Family
Julia Roberts recently appeared in an interview where she detailed her family's close relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King. The actress also revealed how the late civil rights activist made a big move when she was going through a difficult time.
Speaking to Gayle King for History Channel's "HISTORYtalks" in Washington D.C. last month, the video of their conversation made rounds online recently after Zara Rahim tweeted the clip as a form of video greeting for the actress.
In the short video, Roberts was shocked when the famed CBS reporter brought up the topic, saying her research was "very good."
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
The "Eat Pray Love" star then revealed Martin Luther King Jr. and his family paid for her bill when she stayed in a hospital.
To explain how the Roberts and Kings became close with each other's family, the actress said Coretta Scott King called her mom and asked if her kids could be a part of the school as it's difficult to find an educational institution that would "accept her kids."
Her mom and the activist immediately became friends.
Walter and Betty Lou Roberts has been owns and run the Actors and Writers Workshop before she was even born in 1967.
Later on, Roberts explained how the activist family helped them out when her parents couldn't afford to pay the hospital bill when Betty Lou gave birth to the actress.
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How the Roberts Helped the Kings
The "Valentine's Day" star also shared how her family helped the Kings when they were looking for acting schools around their area because at the time because of racial segregation.
"In the '60s, you didn't have little Black children interacting with little white kids in an acting school, and your parents were like, 'Come on in,'" Gayle King told the actress.
There was also a moment when Martin Luther's daughter, Yolanda, entered a theater school that sparked violence.
The Klu Klux Klan blew up a vehicle outside the school when the civil activist's eldest daughter starred in a play where she kissed Philip DePoy on stage.
"I kissed a girl, and 10 yards away, a Buick exploded," DePoy wrote in a 2013 essay.
Julia Roberts has been vocal about racism ever since the beginning of her career as she told a 1990 interview that her town in Smyrna, Georgia, was "horribly racist."
