Katy Perry And Gayle King's Space Trip Sparks Backlash And Memes

Forbes

14-04-2025

US singer Katy Perry attends the 11th Breakthrough Prize ceremony at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, on April 5, 2025. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP) (Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Singer Katy Perry and morning TV host Gayle King took a very brief trip into space—while many were disappointed by the length of the trip, the internet did not disappoint with the resulting explosion of memes.
The all-female crew also included scientists Amanda Nguyen and Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and Jeff Bezos' fiancée, Lauren Sanchez.
The flight was manned by Blue Origin, the space tourism business founded by Jeff Bezos.
This isn't the first headline-grabbing publicity stunt from Blue Origin—the company previously launched Star Trek icon William Shatner into space, which gave the actor something of an existential crisis.
Later, Shatner wrote about how his experience highlighted the fragility of life on Earth and the vital importance of environmentalism, describing his space trip as invoking the 'strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered.'
Blue Origin's all-female launch was a little more lighthearted, sparking many viral moments, but the space trip proved controversial with critics.
The memes were spilling onto timelines before the space trip had even begun, as footage of Gayle King apprehensively approaching the rocket proved a big hit on social media, with many finding Gayle's attitude relatable.
The comically short length of the trip (about ten minutes) saw the crew float just above the Kármán line, widely recognized as the boundary separating Earth's atmosphere from space.
The short time in orbit sparked plenty of jokes, and even skepticism, with some wondering if the crew had even visited space at all.
After the capsule landed safely, Jeff Bezos himself went to visit the crew. Commentators noted that the billionaire stumbled and fell to the ground—but it appeared that the crew didn't see it.
After exiting the capsule, Katy Perry and Gayle King dropped down to kiss the ground, instantly creating a new meme template.
Before the launch, Perry said she was going to sing in space, and true to her word, the pop star belted out 'What A Wonderful World' in orbit.
It's unclear how Perry's performance was received in the deathly, awe-inspiring stillness of space, but of course, the internet assumed that her singing was intrusive, and poked fun at the singer.
While the event inspired many jokes, several commentators also criticized the launch as excessive, pointing to the environmental impact of rocket launches, and the huge amount of money being spent to normalize space tourism during a time of widening wealth inequality.
Actor Olivia Munn described the space trip as 'a bit gluttonous' during a guest hosting appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends.
'I know this is not the cool thing to say, but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now,' Munn said. 'What are you guys going to do up in space?'
During a post-flight news briefing held at Blue Origin's Texas facilities, Gayle King acknowledged the negative commentary, describing the critics as 'cranky Yankees and haters.'
King said, 'I'm not going to let you steal our joy, but most people are really excited and cheering us on and realize what this mission means to young women, young girls and boys, too.'