Gayle King got a huge birthday surprise on Saturday, courtesy of her best friend Oprah Winfrey.
King, who will turn 70 later this month, thought she was attending a holiday party for one of Winfrey’s companies but walked right into the surprise at New York City’s Ci Siamo restaurant, according to footage posted to her Instagram page.
The “CBS Mornings” anchor threw her clutch on the bar and gasped as her family and friends shouted “surprise!” upon her entrance.
The party’s guest list included: Katy Perry, Stephen Colbert, Angela Bassett, Jeff Bezos, Brooke Shields, Andy Cohen and others.
In a heartfelt speech, Winfrey marked King’s birthday and another milestone they will soon share together.
“Next year marks a half a century that we’ve been friends,” Winfrey said, according to a clip of 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.”
The media mogul went on to describe King as “the one person in my life who has always been just more overjoyed for anything that happened to me” and said that “the world is a better place from the joy that Gayle brings everybody.”
King was treated to a four-tiered birthday cake with sparklers and DJ Suss One served as the evening’s emcee.
“I can’t believe that you pulled this off; I can’t believe that you guys came for me,” King told her guests during a 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.”