King says she believes women's sport is at a “tipping point”
Seville's soccer stadium has been transformed over the past week turned into a temple of women's tennis. On the field, a giant tent covers the playing area, which has hosted stars such as recent Wimbledon champions Marketa Vondrousova and Elena Rybakina. The lobby walls are adorned with images of historical champions, from Margaret Court to Serena Williams.
Many of these photographs feature the woman for whom the entire event is named, the Billie Jean King Cup. King can be seen throwing a forehand, giving a press conference and leading the American team.
When we meet in the underground room beneath the stadium, King is dressed in a bright cherry blazer and royal blue glasses, just a couple of weeks before her 80th birthday, and remains chatty and sharp: the same powerful woman who toppled the tennis patriarchy 50 years ago.
If tennis was a hectic environment in 1973 when King founded the Women's Tennis Association, it remains so today. Several players had just flown into Seville from the WTA Finals in Cancun, an event that was so badly delayed and disrupted by Mexico's hurricane season that it drew comparisons to the 2017 Fyre Festival debacle. In a rare show of defiance, Vundrusova and others attacked the WTA for poor organization and late decision-making. But when I ask King whether she admires those who criticize her, or perhaps sees something of herself in them, she demurs.
King at Wimbledon
“I see people listening to others and joining them,” she says. “But independent thinkers? I don't know. How many players know about the business? I held tournaments. My ex-husband and I started in 1968. Ilana [Kloss, King's wife] and I own a lot of things and we've invested in a lot of things. I understand this part too.
“I say to the player, “Did you get paid?” “Oh, yes, I got paid.” I say, “Well, did you ask the promoter or owner of the tournament and find out how he or she did?” “They look at me like that. It hasn't even occurred to them. I've never had a player ask me that question before. Don't you think they'll be curious? I have to ask questions. I need clarity.”
Perhaps King identifies more with the organizers these days. She and Kloss run Billie Jean King Enterprises together and are interested in soccer (both Chelsea and a Los Angeles franchise called Angel FC) as well as tennis. They are also creating a professional hockey league for women, hiring 150 employees, from coaches to general managers. Following the tragedy in Sheffield two weeks ago when Nottingham Panthers' Adam Johnson was struck in the neck by the blade of Sheffield Steelers' Matt Petgrave and died: “Oh my God, how strange was that?” – King will insist that players wear neck protectors.
“Women’s sport is at an inflection point,” she adds. “I've been waiting for this all my life. According to [sports marketing and talent management company] Wasserman, we used to get four percent of the media and now we've got up to 15 percent. The fact is that people are now starting to think that this is a good investment, and not helping us.”
King at Match “Battle of the Sexes” Photo: Bettmann
Her entrepreneurial spirit dates back to the early 1970s—and perhaps even earlier—to her hard-pressed upbringing as the daughter of a firefighter. Even in kindergarten, she had a restless mind, constantly asking questions and never accepting easy answers. In another life, she might have become an investigative reporter or even a detective. In fact, her tennis talent was distracted by these endless questions about the game. Why aren't players paid properly? Why are men treated better than us? Why don't any women complain?
When no one responded, King offered her own solutions. Her work behind the scenes is extraordinary and outshines even her six Wimbledon titles. Creation of the Virginia Slims Tour and the WTA. Striving for equal prize pools at major tournaments. Symbolic victory over Bobby Riggs in the 1973 film Battle of the Sexes (recently adapted into a film starring Emma Stone and Steve Carrell).
There is good reason to believe that King was the most influential athlete of the 20th century. Yet her activism was also a way to put aside her personal problems. At the heart of the case was King's complex sexuality, which she had hidden for decades from her homophobic parents. There was also a controversial, temporary marriage to businessman and promoter Larry King. Her recent autobiography calls the abortion she had in 1971 (the same year she launched the Virginia Slims Tour) the worst moment of their life together.
“I’m very lucky that I’m good at compartmentalization,” King says. “If I didn’t have that, I don’t think I could have done what I did. But there was so much turmoil in my life.
“Everyone thinks that I had an abortion because of the tour, but that was not the reason. I like kids. I always wanted children. Just… not at that moment. Because Larry and I had gone through the same things we had, I had absolutely no intention of bringing a child into this world. The biggest responsibility is a child.”
King and Ilana Kloss have been together since 1987. Photo: Getty
When the news became public thanks to a pro-choice campaign supported by King, her mother was devastated. But the worst was to happen a decade later. In 1981, King was brutally exposed by Marilyn Barnett, a former lover, in a lawsuit that cost her $500,000 in lost support. She would maintain the illusion of her marriage to King for another six years. In truth, she had already been secretly dating her doubles partner and now wife, Ilana Kloss, since 1987.
King was forced to admit the affair in a series of press conferences and interviews. Even amid the media furore, she continued to maintain that Barnett was a minor attraction and an anomaly in her heterosexual life. She also maintained the appearance of marriage until 1987, despite falling in love with her doubles partner Ilana Kloss. “We're still on good terms,” King says of her ex-husband. “Ilana and I are now godparents to his children.” On October 18, 2018, King and Kloss were married by former New York City Mayor David Dinkins in a secret ceremony.
King has won six titles at Wimbledon. Photo: Central Press/Getty
It wasn't until 1995 – in the middle of a life-changing stay at the Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders – that King, 51, finally examined her parents. eye and told them she was gay.
“I always worry about my parents,” King says, using the present tense, even though Bill and Betty Moffitt are no longer with us. “Don't you think most people do that? My father was much more accepting of my sexuality than my mother. I mean, he was so sweet. He said, “Don't worry, little sister [King's family nickname], she'll get there.”
“Eventually, my mom started saying nice things about Ilana. Things like “Give Ilana our love” or “I can see how much happier you are with Ilana.” It was amazing. Although I still think that deep down she wanted me to find a guy again.”
The stress of maintaining a false image helped exacerbate King's pre-existing problems with overeating. Her family had always been careful about food due to a tight budget, and from time to time she found relief in candy bars from a dime store. She kept her weight under control for most of her career, but as she approached retirement, she began to lose her battle. By 1995, when she checked into Renfrew, her daily consumption often amounted to 10 candy bars, plus a liter of ice cream, causing the scale to plummet to 14.
“Every morning I wake up and say, ‘I have an eating disorder,’” explains King, who credits Renfrew with saving her life. “In the same way, if I were an alcoholic, I would say the same thing. Just to remind yourself: “Pay attention!” Sometimes I pay attention, but when I don't pay attention, I know it. Oh, I know what I'm doing. And then you have to ask yourself, are you emotionally hungry? Or physically hungry?
“These are two very large ones. And I eat too much, and I overeat, and I don’t cleanse, so I get fat, and anorexics? Man, they're really competitive. I think 20 percent die because they stay at the same level. Did you know this? We [BJK Enterprises] have a film production company and I want to make a documentary about eating disorders.”
This last line is typical of King. I'm always looking for information. She takes the same approach to important moral issues of our time, including the transgender debate. King and soccer star Megan Rapinoe have been portrayed as vocal opponents of HR734, a proposed US bill that seeks to limit women's sports to those born biological women. On the surface, this puts her on the opposite side of the debate to her long-time friend and former coaching client Martina Navratilova. However, King stresses that her position is still evolving.
“I disagree with Martina,” says King. “I argued with her about this. I say: “Martina, don’t say that I disagree with you.” I don't know. I'm learning, I'm learning from science. Ilana and I always err on the side of inclusivity. I don't want an eight-year-old transgender child to suddenly be banned from playing in the backyard or garden with other children. So I have to worry about that. But I think maybe each sport has to decide what it wants. Because in some sports – for example, in competitions at the Olympic Games – the decision is determined by strength, and in others – by time, for example, in athletics or swimming. Perhaps there is a dispute here. If you're filming, I don't think [gender] will matter. These are the thoughts that come to my mind.
“I don’t know the answer,” King adds, “but I like to talk to everyone and I always listen. And I really like it when everyone has a chance to play. Inclusivity is a huge part of what I believe in. When we founded the WTA, I said, “We have to have five continents represented on our board, otherwise we won't do it.” This vision must be global.”
The King with Kloss and Navratilova
This brings us to the hot topic in tennis at the moment: the desire of Saudi Arabia, which recently sparked a civil war in golf, to start hosting exhibition events. While the men's tour is considering holding the season-opening ATP tournament in Riyadh every January, the WTA is considering a multi-year deal for the grand final at the end of October. Again, Navratilova, like her great 1980s rival Chris Evert, expressed concern that such a symbolic event could be handed over to a country where women cannot marry without the consent of a male guardian.
“I think we should engage with them,” says the Saudi king. “I don’t know what’s going on with the WTA finals. But I believe that engagement usually produces better change than no engagement. If the whole world is going there anyway, should we be part of it or not?
Does she talk to her former comrades about similar problems? “If we are together, we will definitely talk about it. But we haven't been in the same room lately. Plus, they both had cancer and had been through a lot. I don't want to continue the argument. Life is so short. Our friendship is more important than anything else.
“Chris and I are very close. When she first started playing sports at 15, I always stood up for her and she never forgot. Many players were upset because she was getting so much attention. I kept telling them, “Guys, she's going to be an all-time great.” And guess what, she’ll put money in your pocket.” And they were like, “Oh, we didn’t think of that.”
As King prepares for her 80th birthday later this month, she is more visible than she has been in years. Recent engagements include appearances at CMT Smashing Glass (a salute to genre-defying female artists), The Masked Singer and the Women's World Cup finals in Sydney. The plane home from Australia barely arrived in time for the US Open, where she was the guest of honor. But she insisted on both.
“When my mother was in her 80s,” King explains, “she said, 'Billy, you've got to keep moving or it's all over.' She's in my head every day. My parents had Alzheimer's disease; my brother understands this. So I'm worried about that. And everyone says: “You’re doing everything right so you don’t get this.” You're still busy, your brain is still working, you're still traveling and moving.”
“Ilana got me playing tennis again during Covid. She hits me right because I can't run anymore. But my pulse quickens. It is very important to sweat.”
King's decision to make The Masked Singer was another example of her principle: “I don't like to say no.” In addition, producers were preparing an Elton John special, and she had been close to him since they met at a dinner party in 1973.
These two have a lot in common. Visually, they could almost be siblings with their penchant for huge, colorful glasses. On a less superficial level, they both grew up from blue collar jobs, struggled with their sexuality, and ultimately struggled with addiction. “It was really weird,” King says of her performance in “The Masked Singer of the Philadelphia Liberty,” a song John wrote for her in 1974, wearing a massive “Royal Hen” costume and an ice vest to keep her safe. overheating
“My range is about three notes. I don't think Elton has seen it yet. When he does that, he'll get me in trouble!”
In three decades of interviewing, I've never met anyone who asked so many questions. King wants to know my views on the Saudi issue, whether I've ever met Elton, whether my parents are alive.
Then, as we step out into the hallway, she's deep in conversation with a couple of passing physical therapists. Her assistants, Tip and Josh, look at their watches and shrug with slight irritation. To repeat King's previous quote: “I like to talk to everyone, and I always listen.”
On male tennis players opposing equal play: “Come on, just do the right thing. If you make your sport better, you will make it better for yourself anyway.” Photo: Chris Nicholls/Getty
However, the question arises whether favor always flows in the other direction. While most modern WTA players acknowledge King's role as the founder of the tour, she often seems to be treated more like a wacky auntie than the dominant force of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
I wish she could train one of today's stars? She thinks for a moment. “I would like to be a push for a player like I did with Martina when Craig [Cardon] was her full-time coach. But everyone thinks that we are too old and don’t know anything. Big mistake!”
She is equally critical of male tennis players who still oppose equal pay. “I mean, don’t they have daughters? Don't they have mothers? Don't they have wives? Seriously, do they have that much self-doubt? Come on, just do it right. If you make your sport better, you're also making it better for yourself.
“I keep telling people that it's really important to think in terms of 'us' rather than 'me'. Or, to put it another way, if you start with “I” and turn the “m” upside down, you get “we.” You understand that my life, compared to other athletes or other people, has been amazing. But why? Because I have to be part of something bigger than myself.”
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