Oprah Winfrey nearly gave her best friend, Gayle King, a “heart attack” as she threw her a surprise 70th birthday party.
The billionaire media mogul kicked off her pal’s celebration two weeks early by covertly bringing together the “CBS Mornings” co-host’s friends and family for a bash at Ci Siamo in New York City.
“My bestie of 50 years is turning 70 so we gathered everyone that loved her to celebrate. Hard thing to surprise her, O the stories we have made up, the lies we have told to keep this a secret,” Winfrey captioned a video of the big reveal on Instagram Saturday.
“Happy birthday @gayleking, sorry we almost gave you a heart attack😂.”
King then took to her own Instagram account to share the same clip along with details about the lie that Winfrey, 70, told her to keep the birthday party under wraps.
“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 ….,” the broadcast journalist captioned the post.
Winfrey and King were seen walking arm-in-arm into the restaurant when the large crowd shouted “surprise!” at the birthday girl, who became visibly shocked.
King jumped back and even threw her purse onto a nearby table before she gasped and placed her hands on her chest in response to the surprise.
Winfrey burst into laughter as her pal took in the restaurant full of guests.
King’s daughter, Kirby Bumpus, 38, and son, William Bumpus Jr., 37, were the first to greet their mother with warm embraces.
Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, and Robert De Niro and his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, were also seen in the clip.
In another clip, Winfrey and comedian Stephen Colbert were captured getting down on the dance floor to Beyoncé’s song “Cuff It.”
The Emmy-winning TV personality wore a green dress with a fringe hem and accessorized with green heels.
Meanwhile, Winfrey opted for a shimmery gold jumpsuit which matched her gold hoop earrings, as seen in photos shared by King via Instagram.
At one point during the celebration, Winfrey gave a speech about her BFF.
“There’s nobody in the world like Gayle King!” Winfrey gushed in a video clip. “Next year marks a half a century that we have been friends and in all those years there’s never been an argument, a disruption or any of kind of jealousy or bad feelings.”
Winfrey concluded her speech by saying that the “world is a better place” with King bringing “joy” to “everyone.”
King also gave a speech and thanked everyone for attending her party despite her official birthday being weeks away.
“My birthday is December 28th and it’s always that week between Christmas and New Year’s and I never want to inconvenience anybody,” she said of her special day which she typically celebrates with dinner at Winfrey’s house.
She also shared a photo with Winfrey and thanked her for the “extravaganza,” saying that she felt like the “belle of the ball.”
