William Bumpus: Inside Gayle King’s Ex-Husband’s Yale Law Career, 11-Year Marriage, Two Children and Life After Divorce

William Bumpus is an American attorney, former Connecticut assistant attorney general and the former husband of broadcaster Gayle King. The couple married in 1982, had two children—Kirby and William Jr.—and divorced in 1993. Long after their difficult breakup, they developed a cordial relationship centered on their children and grandchildren.

Bumpus has a substantial story outside that marriage. He studied law at Yale, worked as a police officer earlier in life, became a prosecutor and Connecticut assistant attorney general, and later worked in higher education and private legal practice. In 2026, he also publicly addressed the infidelity that contributed to the end of his marriage after King discussed it in a podcast interview.

Quick Bio of William Bumpus

Current Connecticut Bar Association information lists William G. Bumpus as an attorney and identifies areas of practice including family law, child and juvenile matters, mediation, administrative law and workers’ compensation.

Who Is William Bumpus?

For many people, William Bumpus is simply “Gayle King’s ex-husband.”

That description is accurate, but incomplete.

Bumpus spent decades in law and public service. His professional path included policing, prosecution, child-protection work and private legal practice. People’s 2026 profile also notes that he worked as a professor and dean at Central Connecticut State University.

His relationship with King lasted 11 years as a marriage.

His legal career lasted much longer.

William Bumpus Was a Police Officer Before Becoming a Lawyer

One of the more interesting parts of Bumpus’s early story is that law was not his first connection with the justice system.

He worked as a police officer in Kansas City before establishing himself as an attorney. People confirms that earlier policing background.

An older biographical account of King’s life similarly says she began dating Bumpus while he was a Kansas City police officer.

That was long before King’s later national fame.

At the time, both were still building their careers.

How Did William Bumpus Meet Gayle King?

King moved to Kansas City after beginning her broadcasting career.

She joined WDAF-TV there in 1978.

Bumpus was working as a police officer in the city, and the two began dating during this period.

This gives their relationship a very different beginning from what someone might imagine today.

King was not yet the nationally known television personality viewers recognize.

Bumpus was not yet an established Connecticut attorney.

They were two young professionals whose careers were still developing.

William Bumpus Went to Yale Law School

Bumpus later attended Yale Law School.

People’s 2026 profile identifies him as a Yale Law graduate, while older biographical material about King also records that her husband earned his law degree at Yale.

In 2026, Bumpus reflected on that period and credited King with supporting him during his studies.

That detail adds important context to their early marriage.

They were not simply living separate professional lives.

King’s broadcasting career and Bumpus’s legal education were developing while they were building a family together.

When Did William Bumpus Marry Gayle King?

William and Gayle married in 1982.

Maryland’s historical marriage index contains a record for William Bumpus and Gayle King dated June 20, 1982.

The marriage eventually lasted around 11 years.

During those years, King continued developing her television career while Bumpus moved deeper into law.

They also became parents twice.

Their First Child Was Kirby Bumpus

Their daughter, Kirby Bumpus, was born in 1986, according to recent relationship timelines.

Kirby grew up with an unusual family connection.

Oprah Winfrey, King’s longtime best friend, became godmother to King’s children. Older biographical material says Winfrey even created a “nanny fund” after King’s second child arrived to help her balance motherhood and work.

Kirby eventually built an adult life of her own rather than simply remaining known as Gayle King’s daughter.

Her parents also remained connected through major family occasions long after their divorce.

Their Son Is William Bumpus Jr.

The couple’s second child, William Bumpus Jr., often called Will, was born in 1987.

Like Kirby, Will grew up mostly outside the intense celebrity spotlight attached to his mother’s later career.

In June 2024, he married Elise Smith at Oprah Winfrey’s property.

King revealed that Bumpus and his then-girlfriend attended the wedding and that the family atmosphere was friendly.

That moment says a great deal about how much the former couple’s relationship changed over the decades.

William and Gayle Built Their Careers While Raising Children

The 1980s were busy for both of them.

King worked in Connecticut television.

Bumpus completed his legal education and moved into law.

Meanwhile, Kirby and Will were young children.

It was the kind of period many working families recognize: careers moving forward while parenting responsibilities grow at the same time.

From the outside, the marriage appeared stable.

King later said she herself did not realize how serious their marital problems had become.

Then everything changed.

What Happened to William Bumpus and Gayle King’s Marriage?

King has publicly said that she discovered Bumpus having an affair in their home in June 1990.

She revisited the experience in detail during a May 2026 appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast. She said a canceled flight brought her home unexpectedly, where she discovered Bumpus with a woman King considered a friend.

The children were home with a nanny at the time.

King recalled that one of her immediate concerns was preventing the children from becoming involved in the confrontation.

Because these details concern a painful family event, they are best described without sensationalizing them.

William Bumpus Has Acknowledged the Affair

This part of the story is not based only on King’s account.

Bumpus himself has publicly acknowledged his wrongdoing.

In 2016, after King mentioned catching her former husband with another woman, Bumpus issued an apology and expressed regret over what he had done. People notes that he acknowledged the affair and its impact on the family.

He addressed the matter again after King’s 2026 interview.

Rather than dispute her right to discuss the marriage, he again expressed regret and recognized that she was entitled to tell her story.

That makes an important difference when discussing the history.

They Tried to Save the Marriage

Discovering the affair did not immediately end the marriage.

King has said they tried counseling afterward.

For a period, she attempted to continue the relationship.

But trust had been badly damaged.

King explained in 2026 that she found herself checking things she normally would not have checked—such as whether the car was warm and what was happening on the phone.

She eventually concluded she did not want to live that way.

The marriage ultimately ended in divorce.

When Did William Bumpus and Gayle King Divorce?

Their divorce was finalized in 1993.

That ended an approximately 11-year marriage that had begun in 1982.

King later said she learned that there had been additional infidelity.

For Bumpus, the divorce became something he would publicly express regret about decades later.

But there was another major issue facing both parents.

How would they raise Kirby and Will after the marriage ended?

Co-Parenting Became Their New Relationship

Divorce ended their marriage.

It did not end their responsibilities as parents.

Bumpus said in 2026 that he and King made a deliberate choice to co-parent successfully from the beginning after their separation.

He credited that shared commitment with helping them preserve a relationship through the years.

That is especially meaningful considering how painful the divorce had been.

They did not need to remain husband and wife.

But they did need to remain Kirby and Will’s parents.

Eventually, grandchildren added another generation to the family.

Bumpus Says He and Gayle Are in a Good Place Today

More than three decades after their divorce, their relationship looks very different.

Bumpus said in 2026 that he and King “remain in a good place” and emphasized the family bond created through their children and grandchildren.

King has demonstrated something similar.

When Will married in 2024, Bumpus attended with his girlfriend. King said she greeted him warmly and described the atmosphere as positive.

This does not erase what happened during their marriage.

It simply shows that relationships can change dramatically over 30 years.

William Bumpus Became an Assistant State’s Attorney

Bumpus’s legal career included work as an assistant state’s attorney.

That placed him on the prosecution side of the criminal justice system.

The role was a logical development from his earlier experience as a police officer and his Yale legal education.

But his career eventually moved into another important area:

protecting children.

He Worked for the Connecticut Attorney General

Bumpus also served as an assistant attorney general in Connecticut, including work in a child-protection unit.

This is one of the more substantial parts of his professional biography.

Child-protection law can involve difficult questions about abuse, neglect, custody and the state’s responsibility toward vulnerable children.

It is very different from the glamorous image people may imagine when they hear “celebrity ex-husband.”

For Bumpus, law involved years of practical public-service work.

William Bumpus Also Worked in Higher Education

His career did not remain entirely inside courtrooms.

People reports that Bumpus also served as a professor and dean at Central Connecticut State University.

That adds another layer to his professional life.

Police officer.

Law student.

Attorney.

Government lawyer.

Educator.

Dean.

His career moved through several different parts of the legal and educational worlds.

Is William Bumpus Still an Attorney?

Current records continue to connect William G. Bumpus with legal practice.

The Connecticut Bar Association’s directory, updated in October 2025, lists him as an attorney and identifies his professional affiliation with Levine Litigation LLC in Brookfield, Connecticut.

The directory lists practice areas including administrative law, child and juvenile law, collaborative divorce, family law, guardianship, mediation and workers’ compensation.

People reported in 2026 that he had reportedly retired around 2021, while noting that online professional information still described ongoing legal connections.

So “retired” and “still professionally affiliated with law” may both reflect different aspects of his current status.

Family Law Became Part of His Professional Work

There is an interesting detail in Bumpus’s current professional profile.

The Connecticut Bar Association lists multiple family-law areas among his practices, including collaborative divorce, guardianship and general family law.

It would be inappropriate to claim that his own divorce caused him to choose these fields without evidence.

But professionally, family disputes and mediation became part of the work associated with his name.

His legal career therefore covers both public-sector and private family matters.

William Bumpus Has Mostly Avoided Celebrity Life

Bumpus had an unusual connection to fame.

His former wife eventually became one of America’s best-known broadcasters.

Her closest friend is Oprah Winfrey.

Their children grew up around that world.

Yet Bumpus himself remained comparatively private.

In 2026, he said he was a private person by nature and admitted that during their marriage he did not fully appreciate King’s public-facing career.

That comment helps explain why there is far less biographical material about him than about King.

He Publicly Praised Gayle’s Sports Illustrated Cover

Their post-divorce relationship produced a lighter moment in 2024.

When King appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue at age 69, Bumpus publicly praised her appearance.

He also praised her more broadly, saying he appreciated her increasingly over time and was proud when looking at their children and grandchildren.

The exchange was playful.

King had already joked that she planned to send her ex-husband a copy.

For a couple whose marriage ended painfully, the ability to joke decades later showed how far their relationship had moved.

Their Son’s Wedding Offered Another Glimpse of the Family

Will’s 2024 wedding provided perhaps an even clearer example.

The ceremony took place at Oprah Winfrey’s property.

Bumpus attended.

So did his girlfriend.

King said she exchanged greetings and hugs with her former husband and described the event as filled with love.

This is important because divorce stories often freeze people at the worst moment of their relationship.

William and Gayle’s story continued for more than 30 years after the legal marriage ended.

Their children’s lives kept connecting them.

Did William Bumpus Remarry?

Reliable current reporting reviewed here does not establish that Bumpus remarried.

However, King said in 2024 that he attended their son’s wedding with his girlfriend.

Bumpus also said in 2026 that King had recently sent birthday wishes to his 16-year-old daughter, Poet.

This indicates that his family life expanded after his marriage to King.

But details about Poet’s mother and Bumpus’s later private relationships should not be guessed when reliable sources do not clearly establish them.

William Bumpus Has Another Daughter, Poet

One of the newer details to emerge publicly concerns Bumpus’s younger daughter.

In his 2026 comments, he referred to his 16-year-old daughter, Poet, and said King had sent her birthday wishes.

That means Kirby and Will are not Bumpus’s only children.

However, Poet is a minor and not a public figure.

There is no reason to expand her private biography beyond what Bumpus himself publicly disclosed.

This is an important correction to older profiles that describe him only as the father of two.

William Bumpus Is Also a Grandfather

His family has expanded into another generation.

Bumpus has referred publicly to his grandchildren, and King has also frequently discussed becoming a grandmother.

Their grandchildren provide another family connection between the former spouses.

The two people who divorced in 1993 are now attending weddings, celebrating children and sharing the experience of being grandparents.

That is a much longer story than the divorce alone.

What Is William Bumpus’ Age?

Bumpus’s exact birth date is not consistently established by the strongest public sources reviewed for this article.

Several celebrity-biography websites provide specific dates.

But major recent profiles focus on his education, legal career, marriage and children rather than supplying a well-sourced birth record.

For that reason, an exact age should not be presented as confirmed.

A guessed birthday adds little to an otherwise well-documented professional story.

Where Is William Bumpus From?

Some secondary biographies describe Bumpus as British-born or give specific overseas origins.

Those claims are not sufficiently established in the stronger sources reviewed here.

What is well documented is his American professional history.

He worked as a police officer in Kansas City, attended Yale Law School and built a long legal career in Connecticut.

Those facts are safer than repeating uncertain birthplace claims.

Is William Bumpus British?

This is another claim that appears frequently online.

However, the authoritative and mainstream sources reviewed for this article do not clearly establish a British birth.

Because low-quality biography websites often copy one another, repetition alone does not turn the claim into reliable evidence.

Until a stronger biographical or public record confirms his birthplace and nationality history, it is better not to state a specific British origin as fact.

What Is William Bumpus’ Net Worth?

There is no independently verified figure for William Bumpus’s personal net worth.

He has had a long professional career in law, public service and education.

That does not allow outsiders to calculate his wealth.

A reliable net-worth calculation would require information about income, investments, real estate, debts and other assets.

Those details are not publicly available in a form that supports a precise figure.

Celebrity websites that assign him a specific fortune are therefore offering estimates, not established facts.

Is William Bumpus on Instagram?

Bumpus has maintained some public social-media presence, and recent media profiles have cited posts attributed to him.

However, social-media activity should be used carefully when discussing private relatives or personal relationships.

His professional identity is better established through sources such as the Connecticut Bar Association.

For family matters, his own public statements and established media interviews provide stronger context than speculation built from photographs.

Is William Bumpus Still Close to Gayle King?

“Close” can mean many things.

They are not a couple.

But the available evidence shows a cordial family relationship.

Bumpus has praised King publicly.

King has welcomed him at major family events.

They share children and grandchildren.

And Bumpus says they remain in a good place.

So describing them as friendly co-parents and family members is more accurate than suggesting either romantic reconciliation or continuing hostility.

William Bumpus Took Responsibility Decades Later

One of the most important developments in his public story is his willingness to acknowledge the harm he caused.

When the affair resurfaced publicly in 2016, he apologized.

When King discussed it again in much greater detail in 2026, he did not launch a public attack against her.

Instead, he again expressed regret and acknowledged her right to tell her experience.

That does not undo the betrayal.

Nor does it require anyone outside the family to decide how the past should be judged.

It simply completes the factual record more accurately.

Why People Are Searching for William Bumpus Again in 2026

Interest in Bumpus rose sharply again after King’s May 2026 Call Her Daddy interview.

She described the affair discovery in much greater detail than she had previously shared publicly.

That naturally led viewers to search for her former husband.

Who was he?

What happened after the divorce?

Was he still a lawyer?

Did they remain in contact?

Recent reporting answered many of those questions.

And it revealed that the story had changed considerably since 1993.

William Bumpus Is More Than One Bad Chapter

The affair is part of his public biography because both King and Bumpus have publicly addressed it.

But it is not his entire biography.

He was a police officer.

He graduated from Yale Law School.

He became a prosecutor.

He worked in the Connecticut attorney general’s office.

He became involved in higher education.

He practiced family and child-related law.

He raised children.

And after a painful divorce, he and King developed a functional relationship as parents and grandparents.

A complete profile needs both parts of that story.

Final Thoughts

William Bumpus is best known to television audiences because he was married to Gayle King, but his life extends far beyond their 11-year marriage.

He began his working life in law enforcement, serving as a police officer in Kansas City. That is where his relationship with King developed while she was building her early television career.

They married in 1982 and later welcomed daughter Kirby and son William Jr.

Meanwhile, Bumpus attended Yale Law School and moved into a substantial legal career. He worked as an assistant state’s attorney and assistant attorney general in Connecticut, including child-protection work. He also spent time in higher education.

Their marriage changed dramatically in 1990 when King discovered Bumpus having an affair.

They tried counseling, but eventually divorced in 1993. Bumpus later acknowledged the affair and publicly apologized.

That could have been the final chapter between them.

It was not.

They chose to continue raising their children together.

Over time, anger gave way to a more cordial family relationship. Bumpus has publicly praised King, while King has welcomed him at important family occasions such as their son’s wedding.

In 2026, Bumpus again expressed regret for his past behavior while emphasizing the family he and King created together. He also revealed that King had sent birthday wishes to his younger daughter, Poet.

Today, William Bumpus’s story is therefore not simply about being Gayle King’s ex-husband.

It is also about a Yale-trained attorney with decades of legal experience, a father and grandfather, and two former spouses who eventually found a way to remain part of the same family long after their marriage ended.

FAQs About William Bumpus

Who is William Bumpus?

William G. Bumpus is an American attorney and former public-sector lawyer best known publicly as Gayle King’s ex-husband. His career has included work as a police officer, prosecutor, Connecticut assistant attorney general, educator and private attorney.

Was William Bumpus a police officer?

Yes. Before becoming an attorney, Bumpus worked as a police officer in Kansas City.

Where did William Bumpus study law?

He attended Yale Law School.

When did William Bumpus marry Gayle King?

They married in 1982. Maryland’s marriage index records William Bumpus and Gayle King on June 20, 1982.

How long were William Bumpus and Gayle King married?

They were married for approximately 11 years, from 1982 until their 1993 divorce.

Why did William Bumpus and Gayle King divorce?

King has said infidelity destroyed trust in the marriage. She discovered Bumpus having an affair in 1990, and after counseling and later problems, they divorced in 1993. Bumpus has publicly acknowledged and apologized for his infidelity.

How many children did William Bumpus have with Gayle King?

They have two children together: Kirby Bumpus and William Bumpus Jr.

Does William Bumpus have another child?

Yes. In 2026, Bumpus publicly referred to his 16-year-old daughter Poet.

Are William Bumpus and Gayle King still friends?

They have developed a cordial relationship centered on their family. Bumpus says they remain in a good place, and King has described friendly interactions with him at their children’s family events.

Did William Bumpus apologize to Gayle King?

Yes. He publicly apologized in 2016 and again expressed regret after King discussed the affair in detail in 2026.

Is William Bumpus still a lawyer?

The Connecticut Bar Association’s current directory continues to list William G. Bumpus as an attorney, with practice areas including family law, child and juvenile law and mediation.

Did William Bumpus remarry?

The reliable sources reviewed here do not establish a later marriage. King said in 2024 that Bumpus attended their son’s wedding with his girlfriend.

What is William Bumpus’ net worth?

No independently verified figure for his personal net worth is publicly available. Specific online estimates should therefore be treated as speculation.

How old is William Bumpus?

His exact birth date is not consistently documented by strong public sources, so an exact age should not be presented as confirmed.

Is William Bumpus a grandfather?

Yes. Bumpus has publicly spoken warmly about the children and grandchildren he shares as part of his extended family with King.

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