Julia Roberts revealed that Martin Luther King Jr. helped her parents pay for the hospital bill for her birth.
Julia Roberts says that her parents were close with Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, revealing that the couple paid for the hospital bill for her birth. She says that her parents struggled to afford the bill at the time.
Roberts says that her parents befriended the Kings while living in Atlanta and running a theater school.
“One day Coretta 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 during a conversation with Gayle King for A+E Networks and History Channel’s HISTORYTalks. “My mom was like, ‘Sure, come on over,’ and so they all just became friends, and they helped us out of a jam.”
It’s previously been reported that a Ku Klux Klan member once blew up a car outside of the Roberts’ home after they cast King’s daughter, Yolanda, in a role that saw her kiss a white actor.
The actor, Phillip DePoy, recalled the incident while penning an essay for ARTS ATL in 2013. DePoy was 15 years old at the time of the attack.
Roberts is currently promoting her new film, Ticket to Paradise, in which she stars opposite George Clooney.
Check out Roberts’ conversation with Gayle King below.
