Their space adventure won them headlines around the world – but Katy Perry and her Blue Origin crew floated back into a maelstrom of celebrity criticism.
Former supermodel and now outspoken bestselling author Emily Ratajkowski led the backlash against the six ‘astronauts’ and their 11 minutes of cosmic fame.
The 33-year-old told her 2.7 million TikTok followers: ‘That space mission this morning? Like, this is beyond parody. 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?
Look at the state of the world and think about how many resources went into putting these women into space. For what? What is the marketing there?’ Ms Ratajkowski finished her rant by saying: ‘I’m disgusted, literally, I’m disgusted.’
The crew of Monday’s sub-orbital mission included the I Kissed A Girl singer Ms Perry, 40. Having safely returned to the Texan desert after the flight 100 kilometres above Earth, she was pictured kissing the ground before saying she felt ‘so connected to love’.
That prompted Harry Styles’s ex-girlfriend Olivia Wilde, 37, to comment : ‘Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess.' And X-Men actress Olivia Munn, 44, asked why the crew felt they had ‘to tell’ everyone about it instead of just going up having a nice time. She went on: ‘I know this is obnoxious but it’s so much money to go up to space and there are a lot of people who can’t afford eggs. ‘Space exploration was to further our knowledge and help mankind – what are they going to do up there that has made it better for us down here?’
Even US fast food chain Wendy’s, in a rare outspoken move, got in on the act by acknowledging ‘Katy Perry has returned from space’ but added: ‘Can we send her back.’ However, the crew defended the decision to go on the flight and experience zero gravity.
It was the company’s eleventh crewed mission to space and marked the first all-women flights since1963. TV personality Gayle King, 70, who was on the flight said she feels anyone criticising it doesn’t really understand what is happening here’. She added: ‘We can all speak to the response we’re getting from young women, from young girls, about what this represents.’
Lauren Sanchez, 55, fiancee of billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos who owns Blue Origin, said the backlash gets her ‘really fired up’. She said of the detractors: ‘I would love to have them come to Blue Origin and see the thousands of employees that don’t just work here but put their heart and soul into this vehicle. They love their work and they love the mission.’ The other three crew were civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, 33, rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, 38, and film producer Kerianne Flynn, 57.
