Oprah Winfrey Throws Two Surprises for Gayle King’s 70th Birthday: ‘My Mind Couldn’t Comprehend It’
(Getty)
Oprah Winfrey went above and beyond to celebrate her best friend Gayle King’s 70th birthday, pulling out all the stops to make it unforgettable. The 70-year-old media mogul first surprised King with a birthday party two weeks in advance, catching the CBS News journalist off guard when she walked into a room full of guests cheering in celebration.
However, Winfrey wasn’t done yet. On King’s actual birthday, December 28, Winfrey had one more surprise waiting for her. Taking to Instagram, Oprah shared a candid video from the event, showing King once again being surprised by a room full of friends who clapped and sang their own lively rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
King had previously spoken about the surprise party on Sherri two days after the initial celebration, revealing how Winfrey had pressured her into attending what she thought was a “holiday work dinner.” King admitted she tried to reschedule to attend a “very important black-tie dinner” instead, but Winfrey remained insistent.
“I’d seen Will earlier,” King recalled, referring to her 37-year-old son. “He was in town. He had taken a plane to go home, or so I thought. I was so thrown by that, thinking, you know, you’re trying to process that.”
She also mentioned seeing her daughter Kirby and her husband at the surprise event. “Like, what are they doing [here]? You know, her husband had made a partner… So they were in New York celebrating, and they said that they had left earlier in the day,” King explained. “So my mind couldn’t comprehend it — even when they said ‘surprise’ — thinking what surprise,” she continued, still trying to piece together what was happening.
King later revealed why Oprah went to such lengths to surprise her. “It was only when they sang ‘Happy Birthday.’ My birthday is December 28. It’s between Christmas and New Year’s. Nobody wants to celebrate with you on those particular times because it’s right in the middle of your holiday plans so I was really fine with that,” she shared.
King expressed her immense gratitude for the celebration, saying, “My three sisters were there, and their kids and their husbands. I don’t even know how to express the gratitude that I feel.”
