Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King have been best friends for decades, and they’ve championed one another throughout it all. So, of course, it’s no surprise that Winfrey supported King today at the long-awaited Blue Origin Space Flight.
“We’ve been friends for… it’ll be 50 years next year; we became friends when we were 21, 22, and I’ve never been more proud of my friend than today,” Winfrey told WCNC.
Winfrey then explained that this milestone was more than King checking an accomplishment from her bucket list; it’s about her facing her fears. “This is bigger than going to space,” Winfrey said. “Anytime we’re on a flight, she’s in anybody’s lap if there’s any bit of turbulence, has real, real anxiety flying and this is overcoming a wall of fear, a barrier. I think it’s gonna be cathartic in so many ways for her.”
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In fact, it seems Winfrey was one of the people who encouraged the CBS Mornings host to take on the challenge in the first place. Why? “Because I think life is about continuing to grow into the best of yourself, and the fullest expression of yourself and I think this is one of the fullest expressions you can possibly have,” Winfrey said.
Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King at the 2023 Academy Museum Gala held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 3, 2023, in Los Angeles, California.
Michael Buckner
“And I felt deeply that she would regret it and I didn’t want to hear about it for the next 15 years, ‘I wish I had gone!’” she joked. “I said, ‘There’s only one time that all the women are going up for the first time. There’ll be other trips, but they’ll be only one first time. So, to be a pioneer is great.”
As for what their last conversation was before the flight, Winfrey reminded King of her fate. “I said, ‘Peace be still, hold God’s unchanging hand, he’s got your back,’” Winfrey said.
All in all, it seems Winfrey was thrilled to be there at the historic moment. “Gayle has been there for me for hundreds of events, I can’t even remember them, but you will never forget this day,” she said. “None of us will ever forget this day.”
During the flight, Winfrey was filmed getting visibly emotional looking at the spaceship take off, People reports.
Luckily, the flight went well as predicted. Along with King, Katy Perry, Jeff Bezos’ fiancée and journalist Lauren Sánchez, engineer and NASA veteran Aisha Bowe, activist and scientist Amanda Nguyen and movie producer Kerianne Flynn all made it back safely. A historic moment!
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