Nationwide — Gayle King celebrated turning 70 with a surprise party thrown by her longtime best friend, Oprah Winfrey. King, who thought she was just attending a holiday party, was shocked when she walked into a celebration specially for her.
Oprah, who has been friends with King for nearly 50 years, delivered a heartfelt speech.
“Next year marks half a century that we’ve been friends,” Winfrey said during her speech. “In 50 years, we have been in sync, in each other’s corner, supportive of one another, looking forward to the best that could happen for each other.”
Winfrey then described King as “the one person in my life who has always been just more overjoyed for anything that happened to me” and said, “the world is a better place from the joy that Gayle brings everybody.”
A-list celebrities like Katy Perry, Stephen Colbert, Angela Bassett, Jeff Bezos, Brooke Shields, and Andy Cohen were also there to celebrate. King enjoyed a four-tiered birthday cake with sparklers and thanked everyone who attended.
“I can’t believe that you pulled this off; I can’t believe that you guys came for me,” King said to her guests during her speech. “I am just blown away by the people who’ve taken their time just to come… I’m so grateful. Thank you so, so much. I really do feel the love.”
Oprah later posted about the event, mentioning how challenging it was to keep the surprise party from her “bestie.”
Moreover, King, whose actual birthdate is December 28, also shared her surprise on Instagram. She said, “Talk about a surprise !!! I thought I was going to @oprah’s holiday dinner for the @oprahdaily team at her favorite restaurant @cisiamonyc and then THIS happened ….”
