Latest news with #BlueOrigins
News.com.au
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
How Katy Perry became the least popular woman in pop right now
COMMENT It was one small step for Katy Perry when she exited the Blue Origin space capsule earlier this month, bent down and kissed the Texas terra firma — but it was a giant leap backward for her already sputtering career. Perry, 40, got hit with much of the considerable backlash from the showy and what many called 'cringe-worthy' 11-minute trip into space with fellow 'astronauts' CBS anchor Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez (the fiancee of Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos), civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, ex-NASA engineer Aisha Bowe and film producer Kerianne Flynn, reports Page Six. Much of the blowback came from an astonishing number of fellow celebs, and not just provocateurs like podcaster Joe Rogan — who sarcastically deemed the trip 'very profound' and sniped, 'I don't know if you've seen Katy Perry talk about it, but she's basically a guru now.' Olivia Munn called the flight 'a bit gluttonous.' Olivia Wilde shared a carousel of memes mocking the flight on Instagram and said, 'Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess.' Emily Ratajkowski weighed in with, 'That's end time s**t. Like, this is beyond parody.' On X, Jessica Chastain shared an op-ed from the Guardian headlined, 'The Blue Origin flight showcased the utter defeat of American feminism.' Musician Trace Cyrus, meanwhile, accused Perry of copying his sister Miley's career. 'I first knew Katy Perry and her team were lame as f**k when her career was first dying,' he said in a lengthy rant posted to Instagram after the Blue Origins flight. 'And they were like, 'Hm, what can we do? Well, what worked for Miley? She cut her hair off and it broke the internet and everyone freaked out and she bleached it blond. We should do that with you, Katy,'' he continued. Perry's new status as the most unpopular woman in pop couldn't have come at a worse time — right before her first global tour in eight years, which kicked off in Mexico City on Wednesday. Adding to the sting: Her latest album, 2024's 143, debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, it had disappeared from the chart less than a month later. Perry — who said before the flight that she was going to 'put the ass in astronaut' — was widely mocked for using her three minutes of weightlessness in space to promote the setlist of The Lifetimes Tour. It was all a far cry from Perry's splashy arrival onto the music scene in the early aughts, and her subsequent domination of the charts. Her third studio album, 2010's T eenage Dream, was the first ever to have five number one singles by a female artist — with hits like California Gurls' (feat. Snoop Dogg), Firework, E.T. and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.). But Perry's bad press has been building since last fall when '143,' her 7th studio album, was released to tepid to nasty reviews. Lead single Woman's World was dismissed by some as white-woman feminism, and it may not have helped that she worked with songwriter/producer Dr. Luke — who settled a defamation lawsuit with Kesha over rape-accusation claims, which he has denied — on the tune. Taking it a step further, some online pundits have even suggested that Perry's downfall is the result of a nun's 'curse.' The singer had been in a real-estate battle over a convent in Los Angeles for years when Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, on her way into court in 2018, told reporters, 'To Katy Perry, please stop. It's not doing anyone any good except hurting a lot of people' — then died on the scene hours later. Adding to her bad PR, earlier this year Perry was slammed as 'unforgivable' by the family of a disabled veteran, who claim the man wasn't cognisant when he sold his Montecito, California, property to Perry and longtime partner Orlando Bloom. (A lengthy court battle was ruled in Perry and Bloom's favour in 2023.) But sources close to Perry say she's shaking it off, in the spirit of her one-time friend Taylor Swift, and throwing herself into her new 81-date tour — the first with Bloom and their 4-year-old daughter, Daisy. She took to the stage on Thursday in Mexico City in a silver bodysuit, flying above the stage and defiantly addressing her haters by asking: 'Has anyone ever called your dreams crazy?' After all, Perry is known for her resilience in the face of tough times. She famously was dumped via text by her ex-husband, Russell Brand, on New Year's Eve 2011 just minutes before she had to take to the stage for a concert. 'What I find interesting now is that she's become that very rare thing: a female artist who can be criticised,' NPR pop music critic Ken Tucker told The Post. 'Her recent album '143' was mediocre, but the reviews were negative, mean, vitriolic. The music wasn't that bad. So, why?' Tucker suggests that some of the venom comes because attention-hungry Perry is working too hard to be edgy and stay relevant. 'But the bad reviews are really notable because, for the past decade, woke culture has decreed that you can't say anything negative about a female artist — just try to find anything critical written about, say, Beyoncé or Joni Mitchell. It is verboten. But Katy Perry is perceived [as being] just old enough, just un-hip enough to make dumping on her OK.' The Lifetimes extravaganza, a year in the making, features Perry in what described to Entertainment Tonight as a rather 'cyborgian' show — with her playing a video game character — that involves some live audience participation. Bloom will reportedly be on hand for many of the dates and little Daisy will be backstage for the whole tour, Perry told the outlet. After high-profile flings with celebs including John Mayer and Josh Groban, for whom she wrote The One Who Got Away, and her unhappy marriage to Brand, Perry seems to have settled into domestic bliss with Bloom. The two met at the Golden Globes in 2016 and broke up briefly the next year, but got back together and Bloom proposed in 2019. Though Perry has always guarded her private life, one source said she's opening up like never before. 'She's not ruling out bringing Daisy or Orlando on stage,' one insider said. 'This tour is about love, and they're a huge part of that story.' Perry has asked fans on social media to recommend good coffee shops and parks for her to take Daisy to while on tour. But while the singer was the world's highest-paid musician as recently as 2015, she could do with an image makeover as she enters her 40s. The two met at the Golden Globes in 2016 and broke up briefly the next year, but got back together and Bloom proposed in 2019. Though Perry has always guarded her private life, one source said she's opening up like never before. 'She's not ruling out bringing Daisy or Orlando on stage,' one insider said. 'This tour is about love, and they're a huge part of that story.' Perry has asked fans on social media to recommend good coffee shops and parks for her to take Daisy to while on tour. But while the singer was the world's highest-paid musician as recently as 2015, she could do with an image makeover as she enters her 40s. 'Fifteen years ago Katy Perry was red-hot,' a veteran music industry insider told The Post. 'Now her name never comes across my desk. It happens to a lot of artists. They have their moment and it goes away. It seems like a very long time ago that she and Taylor were viewed as rivals on a similar playing field.' Perry, he added, 'is at this point a pop confection, more of a cartoon. Artists like Billie Eilish are taken very seriously, but that's not who Katy Perry is.'
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Emily Ratajkowski Says She's ‘Disgusted' By Katy Perry's Trip To Space, And Many Agree
Emily Ratajkowski is pointing out how Katy Perry's trip to space didn't seem to have much of a point. On Monday, the successful model and author very candidly expressed her thoughts about Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origins, sending six women, including the 'Fireworks' singer, into space earlier that day. The flight on the company's New Shepard spacecraft, which also included other noteworthy passengers — including journalist Gayle King and Bezos' fiancée, Lauren Sánchez — lasted roughly 11 minutes round trip. 'That space mission this morning? That's end-time shit. Like, this is beyond parody,' Ratajkowski said in a TikTok published to her account Monday. 'Saying that you care about Mother Earth and it's about Mother Earth, and you're going up in a spaceship that is built and paid for by a company that's single-handedly destroying the planet?' Ratajkowski continued, 'Look at the state of the world and think about how many resources went into putting these women into space. For what? What was the marketing there?' 'And then to try to make it…' Ratajkowski said, before trailing off. 'I'm disgusted. Literally, I'm disgusted.' Ratajkowski did make some valid points in her video. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration conducted a study in 2022 that found that the significant uptick in spaceflight activity, thanks to tourism companies like Blue Origin, could damage Earth's ozone layer. 'Kerosene-burning rocket engines widely used by the global launch industry emit exhaust containing black carbon, or soot, directly into the stratosphere,' NOAA said in 2022. And although it's unclear how much the whole fiasco cost, it's safe to assume it was likely pretty pricey. In 2021, Blue Origins revealed the highest bid for a seat on its New Shepard spacecraft was $28 million, Reuters reports. The outlet also noted that not all passengers have to pay for their seat, however, being that William Shatner of 'Star Trek' fame flew free of charge that same year. It's also unclear why these six women were sent to space. But the Blue Origins marketing department sure wants you to believe that the launch was some big 'girl power' win for feminism because it marked the first time in over 60 years that women have gone to space solo. Perry also lent her signature hamminess to hype up her visit to space as more than just a glorified ad for a travel company. She sang 'What a Wonderful World' for her fellow passengers while they were in zero gravity; kissed the ground with utmost respect for the Earth once they landed; and made a show of honoring her 4-year-old daughter Daisy Dove by emerging from the rocket's capsule proudly holding a daisy over her head. But Ratajkowski isn't the only one who refused to buy into Blue Origin's spin that this flight was somehow significant. Ratajkowski's TikTok video received over 4,000 comments, and many users expressed similar frustrations. Many called the space flight 'incredibly out of touch' and pointed out that Bezos' other company, Amazon, has halted some of its DEI programs, making the feminist slant of the launch hypocritical. 'Dying at the fact Katy Perry 100% thinks it's peak feminism, like, no one has done more in the name of feminism than what she did by getting on that ship,' one TikToker said. 'They acted like it was a win for feminism. The money used to send them to space could have been used to actually help women in so many ways,' another user pointed out. 'THE FLIGHT LASTED 11 MINS HOW WAS IT WORTH ALL THAT,' said another. 'That money could've gone to literally any other marginalized group! Single mothers, foster children, mental health services, terminally ill etc,' a TikToker wrote.
Telegraph
14-04-2025
- Science
- Telegraph
Sick of all the doom and gloom in the world? Spaceflight might prove an exit
Today, a rocket blasted off from a site in West Texas, carrying a capsule with six passengers over the official marking line between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space. It attracted widespread publicity, despite only being a suborbital flight that lasted less than half an hour. This is not because the launch itself was unprecedented. The company involved, Blue Origins, has been carrying out flights like this for some time on a fairly regular basis. The reason for all the media attention was that all six passengers on this trip to the edge of space were women – the first time there has been an all-female spaceflight since a Soviet mission in 1963. In addition, one of the six women involved was the singer Katy Perry. Her celebrity and high media profile are what brought the media fascination. We should not however dismiss this as simply an example of the media's fascination with pop-culture celebrities. This event is actually significant in various ways, as an indication that something is shifting, in both technology and the zeitgeist. Partly this is because of a growing scientific and economic phenomenon, of which this flight is an example. The other is of a cultural shift. Katy Perry exemplifies this, not only in what she has said about this particular flight and her part in it but in her comments about and vocal support for space exploration over a long period. For many, space exploration, is the quintessential achievement of Big Government, a task of such scale and complexity that it could only be achieved by the state. As such, it is for many an example of what coordinated action through politics can achieve. The reality is less rosy. In fact, there is a strong argument that the Apollo Project was a disaster for space exploration. By focusing entirely on one goal (the Moon) and a single and inflexible technology (step rockets), NASA crowded out a range of possible alternatives and led space technology down an unproductive blind alley. What we are seeing now, with Blue Horizon (owned by Jeff Bezos) and Space X (owned by Elon Musk) and many other companies is a sudden eruption of the private sector into space travel on a commercial basis. Capitalism and the market are now working their usual magic, exploring all kinds of systems and options, discarding what does not work and developing new systems and, above all, steadily turning space travel into something more accessible (and hence profitable). All this goes with a major cultural shift. When he announced the Apollo Project, in a speech at Rice University in 1961, John F Kennedy struck a note that has faded in politics and public discussion. In his powerful and moving peroration, he went through the course of fifty thousand years of human history as it would seem if compressed into fifty years. What he described was a process of increasingly rapid and transformative innovation and improvement, scientific, technological, and cultural. This was a process that in his account, had not happened at all in the first forty 'years' had then started slowly but had then accelerated and was continuing to do so. This was a vision of human history and the future that was upbeat and optimistic, confident in human capacity, and looking forward to the future with hope and anticipation. Space exploration had a central place in this vision, as the new frontier for human progress. At the time this was a widely shared vision, on both sides of the Iron Curtain, if seldom delivered with such power. How different things are now! The hope and optimism of the 1960s have faded. People, and particularly the educated and those who see themselves as being on the Left or liberal side of politics, now regard the future with fear and dread. The threat of catastrophe or of decay and decline haunt our discussions. The kind of optimism that Kennedy expressed and that found expression in the Apollo Project has passed. And yet, maybe things are stirring once again, in no small part because of the way the private sector has now moved into space. Katy Perry has spoken repeatedly of how going into space was a lifelong ambition of or dream of hers, not just for personal reasons, but as an example of how dreams can be realised and of a wider story of progress. She is a vocal supporter and advocate of Elon Musk's idea of colonising Mars and of developing space and, more generally, of the benefits of scientific discovery and new technology. She is a representative of a younger generation who are perhaps rediscovering the enthusiasm for the future that jaded Boomers have abandoned. Her outlook is also in contrast to the dark and nihilistic outlook that is apparently widespread on social media and among the young. The publicity given to this flight and the reception Katy Perry's remarks have had are perhaps just one indication that the Promethean vision that Kennedy articulated has started to once again catch the imagination of the young of all ages, and not only billionaires like Musk and Bezos. Optimism and hope in the future are slowly reviving beneath the snow of disillusionment and fear.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Sick of all the doom and gloom in the world? Spaceflight might prove an exit
Today, a rocket blasted off from a site in West Texas, carrying a capsule with six passengers over the official marking line between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space. It attracted widespread publicity, despite only being a suborbital flight that lasted less than half an hour. This is not because the launch itself was unprecedented. The company involved, Blue Origins, has been carrying out flights like this for some time on a fairly regular basis. The reason for all the media attention was that all six passengers on this trip to the edge of space were women – the first time there has been an all-female spaceflight since a Soviet mission in 1963. In addition, one of the six women involved was the singer Katy Perry. Her celebrity and high media profile are what brought the media fascination. We should not however dismiss this as simply an example of the media's fascination with pop-culture celebrities. This event is actually significant in various ways, as an indication that something is shifting, in both technology and the zeitgeist. Partly this is because of a growing scientific and economic phenomenon, of which this flight is an example. The other is of a cultural shift. Katy Perry exemplifies this, not only in what she has said about this particular flight and her part in it but in her comments about and vocal support for space exploration over a long period. For many, space exploration, is the quintessential achievement of Big Government, a task of such scale and complexity that it could only be achieved by the state. As such, it is for many an example of what coordinated action through politics can achieve. The reality is less rosy. In fact, there is a strong argument that the Apollo Project was a disaster for space exploration. By focusing entirely on one goal (the Moon) and a single and inflexible technology (step rockets), NASA crowded out a range of possible alternatives and led space technology down an unproductive blind alley. What we are seeing now, with Blue Horizon (owned by Jeff Bezos) and Space X (owned by Elon Musk) and many other companies is a sudden eruption of the private sector into space travel on a commercial basis. Capitalism and the market are now working their usual magic, exploring all kinds of systems and options, discarding what does not work and developing new systems and, above all, steadily turning space travel into something more accessible (and hence profitable). All this goes with a major cultural shift. When he announced the Apollo Project, in a speech at Rice University in 1961, John F Kennedy struck a note that has faded in politics and public discussion. In his powerful and moving peroration, he went through the course of fifty thousand years of human history as it would seem if compressed into fifty years. What he described was a process of increasingly rapid and transformative innovation and improvement, scientific, technological, and cultural. This was a process that in his account, had not happened at all in the first forty 'years' had then started slowly but had then accelerated and was continuing to do so. This was a vision of human history and the future that was upbeat and optimistic, confident in human capacity, and looking forward to the future with hope and anticipation. Space exploration had a central place in this vision, as the new frontier for human progress. At the time this was a widely shared vision, on both sides of the Iron Curtain, if seldom delivered with such power. How different things are now! The hope and optimism of the 1960s have faded. People, and particularly the educated and those who see themselves as being on the Left or liberal side of politics, now regard the future with fear and dread. The threat of catastrophe or of decay and decline haunt our discussions. The kind of optimism that Kennedy expressed and that found expression in the Apollo Project has passed. And yet, maybe things are stirring once again, in no small part because of the way the private sector has now moved into space. Katy Perry has spoken repeatedly of how going into space was a lifelong ambition of or dream of hers, not just for personal reasons, but as an example of how dreams can be realised and of a wider story of progress. She is a vocal supporter and advocate of Elon Musk's idea of colonising Mars and of developing space and, more generally, of the benefits of scientific discovery and new technology. She is a representative of a younger generation who are perhaps rediscovering the enthusiasm for the future that jaded Boomers have abandoned. Her outlook is also in contrast to the dark and nihilistic outlook that is apparently widespread on social media and among the young. The publicity given to this flight and the reception Katy Perry's remarks have had are perhaps just one indication that the Promethean vision that Kennedy articulated has started to once again catch the imagination of the young of all ages, and not only billionaires like Musk and Bezos. Optimism and hope in the future are slowly reviving beneath the snow of disillusionment and fear. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Blue Origin launches all-female flight with Katy Perry, 5 others
The Brief Pop star Katy Perry, TV journalist Gayle King and three other women will join Jeff Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez on an all-female flight to space Monday. The 10-minute Blue Origins flight is set to take off from West Texas. An all-female space flight is set to take off Monday from West Texas, potentially making history as the first all-female space crew since Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova's solo flight in 1963. The six women are slated to take a 10-minute flight on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. It will be the 11th human space flight for Blue Origin, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Here's what to know about the historic flight. The all-female crew includes Lauren Sánchez, Bezos' fiancée; pop star Katy Perry; TV journalist Gayle King; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist who now heads an engineering firm; research scientist Amanda Nguyen, and movie producer Kerianne Flynn. RELATED: Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez's star-studded wedding guest list is Who's Who of Hollywood Sánchez, a helicopter pilot and former TV journalist, picked the crew, the company said, and worked with the co-founders of Monse clothing brand to design the women's custom space suits. What they're saying "Usually, you know, these suits are made for a man," Sánchez told The New York Times. "Then they get tailored to fit a woman." She showed off the suits on Instagram. "I think the suits are elegant," Sánchez said, "but they also bring a little spice to space." Perry, meanwhile, said she has been "psychologically" preparing for the spaceflight by reading work from the late Sagan and other scientists. RELATED: Who is trying to colonize Mars? And other projects for life outside Earth "I am talking to myself every day and going, 'You're brave, you're bold, you are doing this for the next generation to inspire so many different people but especially young girls to go, 'I'll go to space in the future.' No limitations,'" Perry said. "I'm really excited about the engineering of it all. I'm excited to learn more about STEM and just the math about what it takes to accomplish this type of thing," she continued. "I am feeling so grateful and grounded and honored to be invited and included with this incredible group of women." The other side The news of the upcoming trip has not been without critiques, most recently from actor Olivia Munn, who bemoaned the mission's cost and publicity. "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… if you want to go to space, why do you need to tell us about it?" Munn said on a recent episode of the "Today with Jenna & Friends" podcast. "Just go up there, have a good time, come on down," Munn continued. "I know this is probably obnoxious, but like, it's so much money to go to space, you know? And there's a lot of people who can't even afford eggs." But Perry believes an all-women crew has historic ramifications. Only 14% of people who have gone to space so far have been women. RELATED: New comet spotted: How to see SWAN25F "It's an important moment for the future of commercial space travel and for humanity in general and for women all around," Perry told The Associated Press. "I just feel like, 'Put us in coach.'" The backstory Blue Origin has flown tourists on short hops to space since 2021, after Bezos climbed aboard with his brother for the inaugural trip. Some passengers have received free rides, while others have paid a hefty sum to experience weightlessness. WATCH: Blue Origin launches New Glenn rocket on first test flight from Florida, loses booster The company declined to say who's paying for Monday's all-female flight. The Source This report includes information from The Associated Press, The New York Times, Page Six and previous LiveNow from FOX reporting.
