It’s a special time of the year for Gayle King — her “favorite” son’s birthday — however this year, the occasion came with a bit of a dilemma.
On Monday, April 28, the CBS anchor’s only son William Bumpus Jr. rang in his 38th trip around the sun, on the very same day his mom was scheduled to attend the highly-anticipated kick off of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour in Los Angeles.
In addition to William, the veteran journalist also shares daughter Kirby Bumpus, who will be 39 in two weeks, with ex-husband William Bumpus, to whom she was married from 1982 to 1993.
© GettyIn honor of her son’s special day, Gayle took to Instagram to share a glimpse into his birthday celebrations, which included of course a trip to Red Lobster — his birthday tradition since he was a kid — along with his wife Elise Smith, who he married in June of last year.
The doting mom first shared a photo of the couple posing outside of the popular chain restaurant, followed by another one of them excitedly showing off the menu, and a last one of the two showing the signature cheddar bay biscuits to the camera.
“The birthday @redlobster tradition continues for fav son!” Gayle then wrote in her caption, noting: “It started when @willgb3 was in elementary school & his wife lovely @elisemariesmith is clearly a good sport! Hope she likes those cheddar biscuits but who doesn’t!!!!!”
© InstagramShe then confessed: “Now my dilemma biscuits or Beyonce??? Hmmmm what to do???” referring to the concert scheduled for the same day.
Fans were then quick to take to the comments section under the post and gush over it, with one writing: “Happy Birthday favorite son Will!” as others followed suit with: “Omg love those biscuits,” and: “Love that he goes there every year! We go there for my husband’s birthday too!” as well as: “Oh my goodness — this is great — how sweet! “
© InstagramLuckily for Gayle, subsequent posts proved that she was able to make it to both the birthday celebrations and the concert. She later shared photos with none other than her best friend Oprah Winfrey ready to head to the concert, where they also bumped into Tyler Perry, who is neighbors with Oprah in Montecito.
Will and Elise got married at Oprah’s house last June, and later gushing about the nuptials on CBS Mornings, Gayle said at the time: “Oprah of course was there, because it was at Oprah’s house,” and joked: “It’s always nice when she lets us use [her house,]” and that the “venue” has “very reasonable” prices.
© Gayle King / CBSShe continued: “I love favorite daughter-in-law Elise, I call her lovely Elise,” and gushed over her stunning wedding dress, a classic, strapless gown to which she later added puffed sleeves during the party. She also shared that her favorite part of the whole day was the vows, which the two wrote themselves. “At one point Will said, ‘I know the man I am but with you I know the man I want to be,’ that gave me goosebumps.”
