Entertainment
How Martin Luther King III Emerged From His Iconic Dad’s Shadow
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In 2022, Martin Luther King III, the son of the legendary slain civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., talked to PEOPLE about what it was like spending the first 10 years of his life living in the same house as the man who inspired so many people of all races around the world.
“He was like our little buddy, like our playmate,” recalled Martin III, who was the second of Martin Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King‘s four children. “I remember one time, him coming up the steps as we looked out of the window to see him. It was amazing to see the transformation. As he was coming up the stairs, he seemed to be pulling 100-lb. iron weights on his legs.”
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“He was exhausted,” King III continued. “But as soon as he saw us, an exhilaration came over him, because we were so excited to see him: ‘Daddy’s home! Daddy’s home!’ When he got to the top of the stairs and the door was open, a renewed energy came across him.”
King III explores his father’s legacy and his own (which is a work in progress) in the new book What Is My Legacy?: Realizing a New Dream of Connection, Love and Fulfillment (Flashpoint). It’s a collaboration with his wife, Arndrea Waters King, and their fellow human-rights activists Mark and Craig Kielburger.
In the excerpt below, King III, 67, discusses living under the shadow of his father’s enormous legend, and how he’s managed to push himself out from under the weight of it, honoring the path of his father while forging one of his own.
Flashpoint
On August 28, 1963, in front of a crowd of nearly 250,000 people spread across the National Mall in Washington, DC, my father, the Baptist preacher and civil rights leader Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. That speech now stands out as one of the twentieth century’s most unforgettable moments and celebrated speeches.
After laying bare the brutal facts of racism in America, my father offered up a dream of an America in which people of all races and faiths live together in harmony and mutual respect, free of economic and employment inequalities. Among the most quoted lines of the speech are “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Hulton Archive/Getty
I was five at the time, too young to attend. Instead, I stayed at home in Atlanta. But I have since listened to his dream many times over the years. Every time, it brings tears to my eyes. His message of hope is something that I’ve continued to share throughout my life. My father’s dream is not just a speech he gave or an idyllic view of what could be. His dream is something we must all choose each day to work toward. What my father was asking for all those years ago was to create a world where every person can realize their dreams. That is something I also want for each of us. My father’s dream remains unfulfilled, but it is still very much alive.
After leading the March on Washington, he went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest person awarded the honor at that time. Then when I was ten years old, in 1968, my father was assassinated. He was frozen in time at the height of his influence as a vital, passionate civil rights leader who has inspired millions of people to take nonviolent action for peace and social justice.
My dad will always be larger than life. And for me, the struggle of my life has been, first and foremost, growing up without him. As a boy, I longed to shoot hoops, wrestle, and ride bikes with my dad, as we used to do before he was killed. As a man, I wish he’d seen me graduate from college, marry the love of my life, the incredible Arndrea Waters King, and raise a fierce daughter—his only grandchild—Yolanda Renee King, with his oratory gifts running through her veins.
Marvin Koner/Corbis/Getty
My mom, the incomparable Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006, would sometimes tell me, “Your father would be so proud of you.” This would bring tears to my eyes. I would almost melt into the moment, wanting so badly to hear those very words from his mouth and feel the warmth of his approval.
As you can imagine, I have thought more about legacy than most people. My father passed a huge legacy to me, and so did my mother — combating hate, racism, violence and poverty while trying to build the Beloved Community with room for us all. An important part of my life has been furthering their work. What a great honor it is to pursue this mission, in the hopes that my efforts — on the wings of their legacy — will help create a better world.
Even so, I’ve grappled with my parents’ legacies and my role in them. I’ve spent my life in the shadow of my dad’s accomplishments, and I’ve often struggled to figure out how to emerge from my father’s vast shadow to define my own legacy. Many times, I have asked myself whether the purpose of my life will be defined by my father or by me.
While there were times in my life when I lived in the shadow of my father’s legacy, the truth is that inheriting my father’s name and legacy has been a privilege and a deep honor. So, in answer to the question “Have I done enough?” the answer can only be “There is so much more to be done.”
My Legacy?: Realizing a New Dream of Connection, Love and Fulfillment, published by Flashpoint, is available wherever books are sold.
Entertainment
Rebecca Gayheart has split from Peter Morton

Rebecca Gayheart and her mega-mogul boyfriend Peter Morton quietly split last year, sources tell Page Six, parting ways before the death of her husband Eric Dane.
Gayheart and Hard Rock Cafe founder Morton were first linked in 2023 when they were photographed in L.A. on a double date with model Claudia Schiffer and her husband Matthew Vaughn.
A source tells us the pair broke up nearly a year ago, in April 2025.
They were last spotted holding hands and giving each other a kiss on the lips in December while leaving E-Baldi in Beverly Hills, Calif.
A source tells us that despite appearances, it was not a date. We’re told the pair had run into each other and wound up catching up.
“They are still friendly,” says a source.
Morton’s father is Arnie Morton, founder of the Morton’s Steakhouse chain.
He and his partners sold their stake in the Hard Rock Cafe restaurants to the Rank Organization for $410 million in 1996. In May 2006, he and his partners sold the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to the Morgans Hotel Group Company for $770 million.
He was previously married to Paulene Stone and Tarlton Pauley. He also had a relationship with Linda Evangalista.
Success runs in Morton’s family. His late son Harry was an owner in the Viper Room and founded Pink Taco. Son Matthew founded the popular Cha Cha Matcha and daughter Grace works as vice president of production and development for Taylor Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch Productions.
Gayheart was married to Eric Dane from 2004 until his death from ALS in Febraury.
The pair were separated and Gayheart had filed for divorce in 2018. She dismissed the filing last March following Dane’s diagnosis.
“Eric knows that I am always going to want the best for him,” she wrote in The Cut in December. “That I’m going to do my best to do right by him. And I know he would do the same for me. So whatever I can do or however I can show up to make this journey better for him or easier for him, I want to do that.”
“We wanna take advantage of the time that he has right now,” Gayheart wrote. “He made it very clear that he wants to spend time with his family as much as possible, and I am committed to facilitating that.”
Entertainment
Uma Thurman reveals why she never lived in Los Angeles remaining in New York

Uma Thurman built an A-list career without ever planting roots in Hollywood, and the actress exclusively told InStyle that skipping Los Angeles may have cost her a deeper connection to the industry.
Despite cementing her status as both an A-list actress and an action star in “Kill Bill,” Thurman made a choice to stay rooted in New York.
“I actually always wished I had moved to Los Angeles,” she admitted during a cover interview.
At one point, the actress nearly made the move out west as her Hollywood career kept pulling her to California.
“I even got an apartment there at one point because I was working there really frequently, and as soon as I signed the lease, I got pregnant with my daughter within, like, six weeks.”
Instead of settling in Los Angeles, Thurman pivoted, choosing family over being close to Hollywood.
However, Thurman added that although the decision was practical, it came with trade-offs.
“I never did time in Los Angeles, and because of that, I kind of never integrated into the community of my own profession, and I think that’s too bad,” she continued.
Rather than building connections within Hollywood circles, Thurman found her sense of community elsewhere, much closer to home.
“I had more of a community with the other mothers at pickup on 16th Street and Rutherford Place, and that’s OK. But I wish I’d had that chapter. I think I really would have liked it.”
Still, Thurman makes clear she doesn’t dwell on missed opportunities.
“I think the choice to be happy is one that should be made, regardless of any conditions,” she said.
Thurman was previously married to actor Ethan Hawke. The couple met while filming “Gattaca” in 1997.
In 2004, Thurman filed for divorce from Hawke after being separated for several years.
The couple married in 1998, and their divorce was finalized in 2005. The two share two children, Maya and Levon.
Thurman and Hawke have both moved on to new relationships after their divorce
Hawke married Ryan Shawhughes in 2008, and they share two daughters, Clementine and Indiana.
Thurman dated Arpad Busson, and the pair became engaged in 2008 before splitting in 2009. The pair were off and on until breaking up for good in 2014. They welcomed their daughter, Luna, in 2012.
Entertainment
Judy Garland’s daughter, Lorna Luft, says Dorothy was ‘always for my mom,’ not Shirley Temple

Judy Garland was “always” meant to sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” despite a longtime rumor that Shirley Temple was considered the top choice to play Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Garland’s daughter, Lorna Luft, set the record straight during a live Q&A at the Palazzo Theatre the Venetian Resort Las Vegas on Monday night.
Luft, whose the daughter of Garland and Sidney Luft – and half sister of Liza Minnelli – confirmed the role “was always, always for my mom. Okay? They never had anybody else in mind.”
Garland wasn’t as big of a child star as Temple at the time, but the latter still has ties to the film.
Luft explained that due to the rising cost of the 1939 Hollywood classic, Loew’s Theatres wanted a bigger star, “someone who had starred in many, many movies as a child,” she said.
Child stars didn’t come any bigger than Temple at that time. “So, they went to L.B. Mayer, the head of MGM, and they said, ‘Please consider Shirley Temple.’ And he said, ‘Not on your life.’” Luft claimed.
Mayer, however, eventually gave in and “sent the great head of the music department, Roger Edens, over to 20th Century Fox,” Luft shared.
Edens audition her and the verdict was: “She’s got killer dimples, but she can’t sing this movie,” Luft said.
“So, my mom became Dorothy forever. Just to put that a little bit to sleep,” she added.
Luft also revealed she met her years later and she told her, “‘I just want you to know something. I could have never, ever done what your mom did in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” she said. “And I thought that was really, really kind – and very gracious,” Luft concluded.
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