Gayle King Mocked After Comparing Herself To Space Pioneer
'CBS Mornings' co-host Gayle King made a bold claim about her 10-minute jaunt into space on Monday and inspired a wave of social media mockery in the process.
King was one of six women launched into space via billionaire Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company. Although the all-female flight was criticized in part for the pseudo-feminism that accompanied it, King told Extra TV that two crew members on board 'were actually doing experiments.'
King, who admitted she is a 'nervous flyer,' said she still has a hard time calling herself an 'astronaut' after the suborbital flight, but argued that the way people have minimized the voyage is 'disrespectful.'
'You never see a man, a male astronaut who's going up in space, and they say, 'Oh, he took a ride,'' she pointed out.
King then suggested that she and the rest of the crew had something in common with the first American to travel into space.
'We actually duplicated the route that Alan Shepard did. … No one said, 'He took that ride.' It's always referred to as a flight or a journey, so I feel that that's a little disrespectful to what the mission was and the work that Blue Origin does.'
Still, King's comparison to Shepard quickly inspired ridicule on social media.
Entertainment publicist Danny Deraney thought it would be fun to follow King's lead and encouraged X users to post 'something special you did that somebody famous did and makes you stand out.'
Let's have some fun. According to Gayle King, she did what Alan Shepherd did, so this makes her an astronaut. What is something special you did that somebody famous did and makes you stand out?pic.twitter.com/oqxyK7ifnv
— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney) April 15, 2025
Deraney then described his own brush with greatness.
'So, I stood in the ocean in Normandy, France,' he wrote. 'Just like our Allies. So now I am pretty much a member of Allied Forces.'
So, I stood in the ocean in Normandy, France. Just like our Allies. So now I am pretty much a member of Allied Forces.
— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney) April 15, 2025
Other people joined in with their own claims of greatness.
I was snorkeling and saw a bunch of fish.So that make me like Jacques Cousteau . pic.twitter.com/ZxXK68fEjh
— Danny Rankin (@DanNorCal) April 15, 2025
I've been on plane, I guess I'm a pilot now.
— Susie S. (@MissSusie66) April 15, 2025
I once sat in the cockpit of a passenger jet pretending to be a pilot so I am an Oscar winning actor like Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.
— James Stewart (@jambon75) April 15, 2025
I was president of my 5th grade class - call me Lincoln
— Frank Malfitano (@FrankMalfitano) April 15, 2025
I have written in a notebook whilst having a coffee at Les Deux Magots in Paris. This makes me Simone de Bouvoir. But only when I am not Ernest Hemingway.
— Linda B 🐾🌊💙🌻🇺🇦❤️☮️✡️ (@Mom_of_Gus) April 15, 2025
So I went to the Oscars and walked down the red carpet and everything. It was the year of the English Patient and Fargo. On the way to the Governor's Ball, Ralph Fiennes elbowed me in the boob. It was crowded and he is short. No hard feelings. 😉
— Bodily autonomy is the foundation of liberty. (@6pounddog) April 15, 2025
So I have flown across the Atlantic (in British Airways A380) so that makes me and Lindbergh the same right? The equivalent risk? Gayle rode the world's most expensive thrill ride. Being an astronaut is a job.
— Court Marshall (@cmarsh3409) April 15, 2025
Victoria Beckham's body guard pushed me aside on a street in Paris. So I guess I'm a Spice Girl now. PS I was simply walking on the street.
— Pamela Capriotti (@PamelaCapriotti) April 15, 2025
Joe Perry once stepped on my foot, so I am the de facto lead guitarist of Aerosmith.
— mostly positive phenn 🤠 (@phenn) April 15, 2025
But one person had an absurd achievement that topped everyone else's:
I flew on a plane from LA to NY once with Gayle King in first class. I guess that makes me Oprah.
I flew on a plane from LA to NY once with Gayle King in first class. I guess that makes me Oprah.
— 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝑩𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆🩷🧡 (@CharlyBaltimore) April 15, 2025
King's full interview is below. Her remarks on Shepard start around the 10:07 mark.
Gayle King Had 1 Hilarious Response To Viral Memes About Her Voyage To Space
Blue Origin Launches An All-Female Celebrity Crew With Katy Perry, Gayle King And Lauren Sanchez
Emily Ratajkowski Says She's 'Disgusted' By Katy Perry's Trip To Space, And Many Agree
Lauren Sanchez Blasts Blue Origin Critics, Says They Should Do This 1 Thing Before Commenting
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