Oprah Winfrey played a pivotal role in ensuring that the marriage proposal of William Bumpus Jr., son of her lifelong best friend, Gayle King, to his girlfriend Elise Smith, went smoothly.
In a sweet video, taken before her 36-year-old man got down on one knee and popped the question to the love of his life, the CBS Mornings co-host, 69, could be heard asking the media mogul’s opinion on where is The engagement photographer must be standing to capture the moment.
“What’s your suggestion, Oprah, about where [the photographer] It should be?’ King asked her friend, who was wearing a tracksuit and a Peloton fanny pack.
The former talk show host helped instruct the photographer, named Brett, on where to hide as he snapped photos of the happy couple agreeing to spend the rest of their lives together.
Oprah Winfrey played a pivotal role in ensuring her best friend Gayle King William Bumpus Jr.’s marriage proposal to his girlfriend Elise Smith went smoothly.
Once they secured “the right spot” and Smith accepted Bumpus Jr.’s proposal, the lovebirds gathered with their loved ones to celebrate the milestone.
King shared photos and videos from the day on his Instagram account with his more than one million followers.
‘Has occurred! Favorite son @willgb3 has found his match and now I have a favorite daughter-in-law – the lovely @elisemariesmith!’ she captioned the slideshow. ‘There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen and a lot of planning was done at this time, so here’s some behind the scenes… now we’re just waiting for the wedding date!’
One image showed Winfrey and King, along with other friends and family, watching the proposal unfold through a window.
King’s comments section was filled with well wishes, including messages from Sharon Stone’s account, Viola Davis, and Oprah Daily.
“Why am I so excited?” Stone, 65, asked, while Davis, 58, wrote: “Beautiful!!! Congratulations ❤’
King shares her son with her ex-husband William Bumpus, to whom she was married from 1982 to 1993.
The exes are also parents to a daughter, named Kirby, 34, who recently walked down the aisle during a small ceremony at godmother Oprah’s home in December 2020.
In a sweet video, taken before her 36-year-old man got down on one knee and popped the question to the love of his life, the CBS Mornings co-host, 69, could be heard asking the media mogul’s opinion on where is The engagement photographer must stand to capture the moment.
!['What's your suggestion, Oprah, about where [the photographer] It should be?' King asked her friend, who was wearing a tracksuit and a Peloton fanny pack.](https://whatsnew2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/1709008212_936_Oprah-Winfrey-helped-her-BFF-Gayle-Kings-son-William-Bumpus.jpeg "Oprah Winfrey helped her BFF Gayle King's son William Bumpus Jr. PROPOSE to his girlfriend Elise Smith 35")
“What’s your suggestion, Oprah, about where [the photographer] It should be?’ King asked her friend, who was wearing a tracksuit and a Peloton fanny pack.
The former talk show host helped instruct the photographer, named Brett, on where to hide as he snapped photos of the happy couple agreeing to spend the rest of their lives together.
Once they secured ‘the right spot’ and Smith accepted Bumpus Jr.’s proposal, the lovebirds gathered with their loved ones to celebrate the milestone.
Kirby, FAMU alumnus and former Marching 100 drummer Virgil Miller got married in front of just six people during a “super small service” while adhering to “strict Covid rules.”
A year later, they welcomed a son, named Luca Lynn.
King has a close relationship with his two children and previously expressed fears for his son as a black man in America.
In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, King said she was “worried” about him while appearing on The Talk.
Even though her son lives in Santa Monica, which she described as a “very prosperous city,” the journalist shared that she feared for his safety just “walking his damn dog.”
King shared photos and videos from the day on his Instagram account with his more than one million followers.
‘Has occurred! Favorite son @willgb3 has found his match and now I have a favorite daughter-in-law – the lovely @elisemariesmith!’ she captioned the slideshow. ‘There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen and a lot of planning was done at this time, so here’s some behind the scenes… now we’re just waiting for the wedding date!’
King recalled asking him: ‘Will, please don’t walk [your dog] Scott. Please don’t take him for long walks. He also advised her not to wear a black mask when he left his house.
“I’m concerned that he’s a black man, period,” he said. And now everyone is so excited about everything. Yes, I care a lot about his safety… Welcome to being black in America. This is not new.”
Winfrey is the godmother of King’s two children.
The two women’s friendship dates back more than 46 years, when they met in the early 1920s while working at WJZ-TV in Baltimore in 1976: Winfrey as a news anchor and King as a production assistant and writer, according to yahoo.