Larry King’s wife has revealed she was left ‘hurt’, ‘crushed’ and publicly ‘humiliated’ after her 85-year-old husband filed for divorce after 22 years of marriage.
In a DailyMailTV exclusive, Shawn King, 59, has broken her silence over the bombshell court filing and revealed how she was ‘blindsided’ with the news following a phone call from a reporter while at her second home in Utah.
But the ‘devastated’ former actress and singer says she stills loves Larry, doesn’t want to paint the broadcast legend as a ‘villain’ and hints that his decision may be connected with the star’s health scare earlier this year.
Shawn also lifts the lid on the ‘terrifying’ moment a doctor told her to fear the worst for the ailing TV legend saying he didn’t have long left to live. The star eventually made a miraculous recovery.
Breaking down in tears at the couple’s stunning $17 million home in Beverly Hills, California, Shawn said: ‘I was crushed, I had no idea that this was coming, it hurt yeah. I was totally blindsided.
‘He’s going through a lot right now… his health issues, that can really shake you to your core, it shook me to my core to see him so vulnerable and he doesn’t remember two solid weeks of time. It’s life, it’s real, it’s not fun.’
In a DailyMailTV exclusive, Shawn King, 59, has broken her silence over her husband Larry King’s bombshell divorce filing and revealed how she was ‘blindsided’ with the news following a phone call from a reporter while at her second home in Utah
The ‘devastated’ former actress and singer says she stills loves Larry, who she has been married to for the past 22 years, and doesn’t want to paint the broadcast legend as a ‘villain’, as she hints that his decision may be connected with the star’s health scare earlier this year
The iconic talk show host filed papers in August, as reports revealed he ‘hit the roof’ after learning she tried to interfere with his estate – potentially negatively impacting the inheritance of their sons, Cannon, 19 (right) and Chance, 20 (left)
Shawn says it wasn’t her ‘first choice’ to get divorced and that she’s still dealing with the fall out of her husband’s shock decision.
But she also reveals that despite the news breaking almost a month ago she still hasn’t been served with any legal paperwork.
Speaking to DailyMailTV in the grand foyer of the couple’s six-bedroom luxury mansion, she said: ‘I’m sad, I never expected to be at this place in my life, in our lives and have this happen in such a public way.
‘I don’t think, again I’m not in Larry’s head, I refuse to believe that he intended to humiliate me. It’s strange, I can’t quite wrap my head around it, but it is what it is… it hurts.’
I refuse to believe that he intended to humiliate me. It’s strange, I can’t quite wrap my head around it, but it is what it is… it hurts.
She added: ‘Larry has a very strong personality, Larry does what Larry wants, that doesn’t mean that I can’t disagree with him because I have and I do and will continue for as long as we are on this earth.’
Shawn says the prospect of divorce didn’t truly hit home until a few days after she got the news – while watching a football game with her brother.
‘We were on the sidelines and I saw all these families around us and there was a moment when I thought that my heart was going to physically burst out of my chest,’ said the blonde beauty, her voice breaking with emotion and tears streaming down her face.
‘I saw all these happy families and I was thinking about our happy family and I was thinking about Larry and everything he had been through and I was pi**ed and confused and it wasn’t easy.’
But she added that she doesn’t intend to fight the divorce, should Larry continue down that road, and she has no intention of disparaging her husband of over two decades.
Speaking to DailyMailTV in the grand foyer of the couple’s six-bedroom luxury mansion, she said: ‘I’m sad, I never expected to be at this place in my life, in our lives and have this happen in such a public way. I refuse to believe that he intended to humiliate me’
King suffered a heart attack in April, sparking fears the frail 85-year-old wouldn’t make it. Above he is pictured being assisted into the house while his wife Shawn looks on in March
Shawn is quick to deny claims that Larry was furious with her after she tried to meddle with his will while he was seriously ill in the hospital. It was reported that it was the couple’s two boys – who live with Shawn at the family’s Beverly Hills pad – who urged their dad to file for divorce
But Shawn branded the claims ‘ludicrous’ and said they ‘were frantic to call me to make sure that I knew that they never did or never would say anything like that’. Pictured: Divorce documents obtained by DailyMailTV reveal King filed on August 19 and lists the date of separation as June 6, 2019
Larry filed for divorce at Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday citing ‘irreconcilable differences’
‘Larry’s been through a lot. Am I upset? Am I sad? Yes, but I’m not here to diss Larry at all, what’s most important to me is our boys and that they don’t get hurt any more,’ Shawn said.
Bizarrely, Shawn insists there wasn’t any signs of trouble in the marriage leading up to the divorce filing.
And she is quick to deny claims that Larry was furious with her after she tried to meddle with his will while he was seriously ill in the hospital.
Reports revealed Larry ‘hit the roof’ after learning Shawn tried to interfere with his estate – potentially negatively impacting the inheritance of their two adult sons, Cannon, 19 and Chance, 20.
It was also reported that it was the two boys – who live with Shawn at the family’s Beverly Hills home – who urged their dad to file for divorce.
But Shawn branded the claims ‘ludicrous’ and joked: ‘No, but they could be lying to me.’
She continued, hardening her tone: ‘They’ve been raised in the entertainment business, in the public eye, so they’ve been around it, but they’ve never been the subject of the headlines.
‘And it was very upsetting to them to have things attributed to them that were not true and so much so that they went to their social media platforms and set the record straight, but initially it was really hard on them.
‘They had seen some of the headlines and were frantic to call me to make sure that I knew that they never did or never would say anything like that.
‘It brought us very close together and brought clarity and made a bad thing a good thing.’
The two boys, who are now at college, were happy to pose up with their mother for photos and seem relaxed inside their luxury home.
Shawn said of her sons: ‘They’ve been raised in the entertainment business, in the public eye, so they’ve been around it, but they’ve never been the subject of the headline. It brought us very close together and brought clarity and made a bad thing a good thing.’ Cannon (left) and Chance (right), who are now at college, were happy to pose up with their mother for photos and seem relaxed inside their luxury home
Shawn said: ‘We love each other, we’re partners, certainly yes we’ve had bumps, but we love our kids and I think the love for our kids and wanting what’s best for them has always been the driving force with us.’ Pictured: Shawn and Larry with their sons and Paul McCartney
Shawn believes the negative headlines – which she says she never reads – could be down to a ‘lot of miscommunication’ amid Larry’s health scare.
And she reveals the heart-stopping moment doctors told her that her husband didn’t have long left to live.
Medics feared the worst after a blood test revealed Larry had a high white blood cell count, indicating leukemia, and said to Shawn that she should immediately get her affairs in order.
‘It was terrifying, Larry went for a check up and the doctor did a blood test and called me with Larry on the phone, saying, “we have really bad news, Larry’s white blood cell count is extremely high, it’s leukemia and we’re not exactly sure but it looks like he doesn’t have very much time left”.
‘Thankfully that’s not the case, but in the moment my heart stopped and it was terrifying, just awful, the worst feeling you can imagine.’
Shawn said her son Cannon was in South Carolina on a mission for their church and the doctor suggested they get him home on the next flight.
‘They were terrified, but it brought us very close, we said a lot of prayers we had a lot of cry fests, hugging Larry, hugging each other.
‘Weeks later he wound up in the ER and it was very serious.’
‘They said get your affairs in order, it’s a very scary thing to hear,’ she explained.
‘Larry called our estate planner and gave him instructions and the estate planner followed various instructions and that’s what happened, it was between Larry and our estate planner.’
But as a result of what the doctor had told Shawn, she claims things were ‘misconstrued’ – which led to the reports that she had tried to meddle.
Shawn lives in the couple’s stunning $17 million home in Beverly Hills, California. While Shawn is quick to paint a picture that all is well with their family, the former model admits the couple had filed for divorce previously but came back from the brink
Shawn also laughs off reports that she and Larry sleep in separate bedrooms and have done for the past ten years
Shawn was so adamant to disprove the story that she took DailyMailTV into the master bedroom of their home to show us the ‘famous headboard’ – which is stained with stage make-up rubbed off over several years from Larry’s face (pictured)
‘From what I am hearing they were saying that I was trying to take money away from my boys and that’s just ludicrous,’ she said, adding: ‘Completely false.’
When quizzed over the true reason Larry wants to end the marriage, Shawn says dismissively: ‘He must have thought it was a good idea at the time, I don’t know.
‘I’m not in Larry’s head, I don’t know exactly what he’s thinking at this moment, we’ve just gone through such a frightening time in our lives, I don’t know.’
Shawn also laughs off reports that she and Larry sleep in separate bedrooms and have done for the past ten years.
She was so adamant to disprove the story that she took DailyMailTV into the master bedroom of their home to show us the ‘famous headboard’ – which is stained with stage make-up rubbed off over several years from Larry’s face.
The room is filled with photos of the couple as well as their boys and the sheets on the bed are Larry’s own brand, Sleep like a King.
While Shawn is quick to paint a picture that all is well with their family, the former model admits the couple had filed for divorce previously but came back from the brink.
Larry filed for divorce in 2010, but withdrew his petition after the pair reconciled.
It’s understood the blip in their relationship came after Shawn was exposed as having had an affair with her son’s much younger baseball coach – a subject she isn’t to excited to talk about.
She said: ‘We’re a very passionate couple, neither one of us are quiet, we’re horrible at divorce, we tried but we didn’t ever quite get there, but you know, we’ll see what happens. It has been weeks and I haven’t been served.’
When asked if she believes ‘outside influences’ might be pulling Larry’s strings, she said some people believe it’s their job to advise the star on his marriage.
‘People think that their opinion matters,’ she says.
As for being a ‘gold digger’, Shawn broadens her brilliant white smile. ‘Look, after 22 years that’s getting a little sour… digging for that nugget of gold for 22 years, it just doesn’t apply,’ she said
Shawn agrees that keeping hold of the former CNN host, who has been married seven other times, for so long, was an ‘accomplishment’. ‘After 22 years you’re bound to have a few bumps in the road, in any marriage,’ she explains
Shawn was successful in her own right as an actress, singer and model and running a successful hair-extension business. Pictured: Model figures of Larry and Shawn
As for being a ‘gold digger’, Shawn broadens her brilliant white smile.
‘Look, after 22 years that’s getting a little sour… digging for that nugget of gold for 22 years, it just doesn’t apply,’ she said.
She also cites Larry’s ‘intergalactic success’, and how she could never dream of competing with her world famous husband.
Shawn was successful in her own right as an actress, singer and model and running a successful hair-extension business.
She has fond memories of her 22 year marriage and recalls how she first met Larry after bumping into him twice while walking around Beverly Hills and was won over by his humor.
‘It was laugh at first sight for sure, that has been our go to,’ she said. ‘Larry is one of the funniest people on the planet, if he wasn’t a broadcaster he could definitely be a stand-up (comedian), he’s done stand-up actually in Vegas.’
The couple were married a year after they met and planned a lavish ceremony in the back yard of a friend’s mansion.
But Larry had a heart scare so went to get it checked at the doctor’s the day before the wedding.
‘Larry called me and said, “we’ve got a problem”, so we decided to move the wedding up a day and got married in the hospital. We got married in UCLA in the intensive care unit.’
She added: ‘There’s been some good times through the 22 years.’
The couple were married a year after they met and planned a lavish ceremony in the back yard of a friend’s mansion. But Larry had a heart scare so went to get it checked at the doctor’s the day before the wedding. ‘Larry called me and said, “we’ve got a problem”, so we decided to move the wedding up a day and got married in the hospital’
When quizzed over the true reason Larry wants to end the marriage, Shawn says dismissively: ‘He must have thought it was a good idea at the time, I don’t know’
Shawn agrees that keeping hold of the former CNN host, who has been married seven other times, for so long, was an ‘accomplishment’.
‘After 22 years you’re bound to have a few bumps in the road, in any marriage,’ she explains.
‘But we’re still standing. We’ve certainly had more ups than downs or lows, the ups have been our kids number one without question, birthday parties at Dodgers stadium. We’ve traveled, we have great friends and great family.’
She added: ‘We love each other, we’re partners, certainly yes we’ve had bumps, but we love our kids and I think the love for our kids and wanting what’s best for them has always been the driving force with us.’
Shawn reveals that Larry made a miraculous recovery after his health scare and is even back at work.
She said the doctors can’t believe Larry’s resolve and have said he has an ‘indomitable spirit’.
Shawn says that no matter what happens, her and Larry will continue to work together. ‘We’re life partners, whether we’re married or not, we’ve had a full life together,’ she said
‘Larry loves life, he wants to keep living, he’s afraid of dying, he doesn’t believe there’s anything on the other side.’
Shawn says her life before she met Larry was in the entertainment business so they both spoke the ‘same language’.
‘I had a big life before Larry and then it just got even bigger and more interesting.
‘Larry had a front row seat to history through his job, it was world leaders and the movie stars and the rock stars, all the politicians and a few hatchet murderers along the way. He interviewed everybody and he’s still interviewing everybody on Larry King Now.’
Shawn joked that after Larry left CNN in 2012 he became a ‘couch potato’ and even pointed out his favorite spot on the sofa.
But she said the star couldn’t sit still for long and together they launched Ora TV, a production company, with Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim. Ora is Shawn’s middle name.
Through Ora TV, Larry King Live turned into Larry King Now.
Shawn says that no matter what happens, her and Larry will continue to work together.
‘We’re life partners, whether we’re married or not, we’ve had a full life together,’ she said.
She added: ‘I’ll always love Larry no matter what, Larry is family to me, I took care of him, when he was sick…so I’m a little taken aback by this but we’ll get through it.’
She added: ‘It’s an abnormal, normal marriage.’