Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez were part of a six-member crew that blasted off to the edge of space onboard one of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rockets this Monday. The rocket successfully returned to Earth after about 10 minutes, marking the first all-female spaceflight in more than 60 years.
While some called it a milestone moment for women empowerment, others were more skeptical. Critics of the Blue Origin space flight pointed to the star power of the all-female crew – including Jeff Bezos’ fiancee Lauren Sanchez, pop star Katy Perry, television personality Gayle King, rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, scientist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn – and wondered if the flight was more a publicity stunt, and a tone-deaf one at that.
Blue Origin space trip faces backlash
Model Emily Ratajkowski was among the most famous critics. In a video shared on TikTok, Ratajkowski wondered how one could devote so many resources to a space flight when the world around them is suffering.
“You're going up in a spaceship that is built and paid for by a company that is single-handedly destroying the planet,” she said. “Look at the state of the world and think about how many resources went into this—for what?”
{{/usCountry}}“You're going up in a spaceship that is built and paid for by a company that is single-handedly destroying the planet,” she said. “Look at the state of the world and think about how many resources went into this—for what?”
{{/usCountry}}Many others agreed with her take, calling the Blue Origin space flight wasteful, hypocritical and out-of-touch.
“Why are we hyping up wives of billionaires going up into space for 6 minutes while the world crumbles and people are starving,” asked one X user.
Another called it “embarrassing,” equating it to a “Make a Wish stunt.”
“People should not be going to space unless it’s for important research or a big project because it just does so much damage to the planet,” an X user opined.
“Basically a rich woman wanted to take her celebrity friends to space for mimosas,” another said.
Response to critics
Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez clapped back at critics after returning to earth Monday.
“Anybody that’s criticizing it doesn’t really understand what is happening here,’ Gayle King told People magazine when asked about the criticism surrounding the trip. “We can all speak to the response we're getting from young women from young girls about what this represents,” the journalist added.
Lauren Sanchez, who is engaged to Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, also addressed the backlash in an interview before takeoff.
“There’s always positive and negative, always,” Sanchez said during an appearance on CBS Mornings. “And Blue Origin’s mission is for the benefit of Earth. You should go walk around and ask anyone who works here how they feel about this mission. I think you’ll get choked up.”