Actress Julia Roberts revealed in a recent interview that Civil Rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. had paid her mother’s hospital bill after she was born.
Roberts sat down with “CBS Mornings” host Gayle King in late September, and during the wide-ranging conversation, the “Erin Brockovich” actress explained the connection between her parents — who ran a theater school in Atlanta — and MLK and his wife, Coretta Scott King.
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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
“Let’s start with the day you were born,” King said, asking, “Who paid for the hospital bill?”
“Okay, her research is very good,” Roberts said, flashing a smile and prompting King to interrupt: “We’re professionals.”
“This is … ah, the King family paid for my hospital bill,” Roberts continued.
“Not my family,” King laughed.
“Not your family —” Roberts agreed.
“Martin Luther King Jr. —” King prompted.
“And Coretta,” Roberts said.
“How did that come about?” King asked, turning to the audience and adding, “Did you guys know that about Julia Roberts? … That’s what I said! Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King … why did they do that?”
“Obviously because my parents couldn’t pay for the hospital bill,” Roberts began, adding, “My parents had a theater school in Atlanta called The Actors and Writers Workshop.”
“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,” Roberts said, noting that at the time, segregation made it difficult for black students to find theater schools that would accept them — especially if there were also white students at the same school.
“My mom was like, ‘Sure, come on over,’” Roberts continued. “And so they just all became friends, and they helped us out of a jam.”
“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,’” King replied. “I think that’s extraordinary.”
Roberts, who just celebrated her 55th birthday on Friday, has recently been out promoting her latest film alongside actor George Clooney: “Ticket to Paradise.”
