It may be hard to wrap your head around, but the internet buzz in this particular case is dead on — Martin Luther King Jr., the famous civil rights activist, along with his wife Coretta Scott King, paid for the birth of Oscar-winner Julia Roberts.
Gallery: 12 Things You Didn't Know About Martin Luther King Jr.
According to The Washington Post, popular social influencer Zara Rahim shared a video clip of an interview with Roberts to celebrate her Oct. 28 birthday. In a September interview for HistoryTalks, a series hosted by the History Channel and A&E Networks, Gayle King asked the actress who paid the hospital bill for her birth.
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 King family paid for my hospital bill," said Roberts, who said the gesture grew out of her parents accepting the King children into their 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. “My mom was like, ‘Sure, come on over.’”
The decision by Roberts' mother wasn't an obvious or easy choice, because “in the 60s, you didn't have little Black children interacting with little white kids in acting school,” Gayle King explained.
The act bonded the two families, Roberts said. “And so, they just all became friends, and they helped us out of a jam.”
If that's not confirmation enough, the youngest child of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King also tweeted that the story was true and that she was grateful it was getting attention. "I know the story well, but it is moving for me to be reminded of my parents’ generosity and influence.”
