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(NewsNation) — It seemed like such a good idea at the time?
Pop star Katy Perry and CBS morning show host Gayle King are getting slammed for joining film producer Kerianne Flynn, activist Amanda Nguyen, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe and Jeff Bezos’ bride-to-be Lauren Sanchez on an 11-minute, $28 million per person joy ride to the outer edges of Earth’s atmosphere.
[Note: Bezos’ company Blue Origin doesn’t say how much a trip costs, but a seat on its initial journey was auctioned off for $28 million, and will eventually cost around $250,000].
Perry, who had claimed she was going to put the “ass” back in astronaut, came in for special derision when, upon coming back to Earth, the singer said she felt “super connected to life” and “so connected to love.”
But people were especially aghast as, during the flight, it looked like she spent most of her three minutes of weightlessness looking not out the window at Earth, but into the camera, first producing a daisy for her daughter also named Daisy, and then a set list for her upcoming The Lifetimes Tour written on a paper butterfly.
To be fair, the tour does need help.
Perry was stunned when her album, which debuted last year, was declared “full of bombs” and the single “Woman’s World” was castigated by critics as her “biggest flop yet.” The album, which debuted at #6 on charts but quickly disappeared after, went on to sell a measly 100,000 copies (according to the Wikipedia entry).
So it’s not shocking to see that her tour isn’t selling well at all — either on Ticketmaster or directly from arenas — with tickets in all seats available and pricing ranging from $63 to $750 for “VIP package seating.”
The tour, which starts in Mexico in May, needed a boost, so perhaps Perry’s PR team was initially ecstatic when the Blue Origin microgravity trip was announced.
But the backlash is deafening. Perry was slammed on X by regular users, but even celebrities got in on the beatdown.
Model Emily Ratajkowski said, “That space mission this morning? That’s end time s**t. Like, this is beyond parody.
This image provided by Blue Origin shows, first row, seated, from left: Lauren Sanchez and Kerianne Flynn and standing in back from left: Amanda Nguyen, Katy Perry, Gayle King and Aisha Bowe in West Texas. (Blue Origin via AP)
This image provided by Blue Origin shows from left: Jeff Bezos, Kerianne Flynn, Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez, Aisha Bowe, Gayle King, Amanda Nguyen, Sarah Knights, director of Blue Origin’s astronaut office, and Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp. (Blue Origin via AP)
This combination of 2025 file photos shows, from left, Lauren Sanchez, Katy Perry and Gayle King. (Photos by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
This image taken from video provided by Blue Origin shows the New Shepard rocket blasting off in West Texas, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Blue Origin via AP)
FILE – Katy Perry arrives at the 11th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
Lauren Sanchez arrives at Chanel’s 16th Annual Pre-Oscar Awards Dinner on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Actress Olivia Munn slammed the space mission ahead of its launch, saying:’I know that this is probably obnoxious – but like, it’s so much money to go to space. You know, there’s a lot of people that can’t even afford eggs.’
NFL reporter Jane Slater ripped into Perry as well, noting: “’The whole thing was embarrassing. So many smart women who worked their whole life to go to space and did the work. She (Perry) took a daisy and promoted a set list for her new album. If she really cared? Give your spot up to a young girl in the NASA program.
Famed satirist Caitlin Moran even took the time to skewer the popstar in the Times of London, writing: “And so to Katy Perry, who, this week, became the first female multi-hyphenate in space. Blue Origin’s much-vaunted ‘all-female crew’ was not the first all-female crew in space — the Soviet Union managed that, in 1963 — but foolishly they didn’t include anyone who had their own fragrance or shoe range, so I guess that’s why the Soviet Union eventually collapsed.”
Even fast-food chain Wendy’s took a dig at Perry on social media, commenting on a picture of the singer kissing the ground: “Can we send her back.”
Perry — along with her in-flight pal Gayle King, both of whom are invited to Sanchez’s Italian wedding in June — seemed confused by the criticism.
King, who is considered a news journalist, and therefore is expected to play by CBS News rules of ethics — in which you are not supposed to accept any gifts, let alone one that costs millions — is said to be, by my sources, “under the microscope” right now, especially with CBS mornings’ dismal ratings.
She even accused critics of sexism — although one fails to understand how her trip did anything except inspire young girls to befriend billionaires’ fiancées.
Gayle King attends the 11th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Barker Hangar on April 05, 2025 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Craig T Fruchtman/Getty Images)
“Anybody that’s criticizing it doesn’t really understand what is happening here,” she said. “We can all speak to the response we’re getting from young girls about what this represents.”
King also told Entertainment Tonight: “Have you been?” King scolded critics.
“Please don’t call it a ‘ride,’” she added, claiming people don’t use this term when talking about men going into space.
“We duplicated the same trajectory that Alan Shepard did back in the day, pretty much. No one called that a ‘ride,’” King said. “It was called a flight, it was called a journey.”
“There was nothing frivolous about what we did,” she added.
Millions of people in America beg to disagree.
