Gayle King Responds to Backlash Over ‘Expensive’ Blue Origin Flight

Tone deaf CBS morning show Gayle King has responded to backlash over her Blue Origin flight on Monday, which saw an all-female crew including the “CBS Mornings” anchor, pop star Katy Perry and journalist and philanthropist Lauren Sánchez take an eight-minute trip into space.

via: Daily Mail

On Monday morning, King, 70, joined six noteworthy women, including Jeff Bezos' fiancé Lauren Sanchez, 55, and singer Katy Perry, 40, on a nail-biting 11-minute suborbital flight during which the crew could be heard screaming on a live broadcast.

The women crossed the Karman Line, often used as the boundary of space, and were treated to roughly three minutes of weightlessness before they headed back down to the ground.

The commercial spacecraft carried King, Sanchez, and Perry, as well as filmmaker Kieranne Flynn, 57, and NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, 38, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyne, 33, on the brief, zero gravity joyride.

Moments before takeoff, the ladies each rang a ceremonial bell before getting into the rocket.

While everyone else was smiling and looked happy to ring the bell and get on with the mission, King looked noticeably downcast and stressed out as she took her turn.

She half-heartedly rang the bell and continued to walk forward towards the rocket after letting out a huge sigh.

The hilarious moment went viral on social media, and a close-up shot of her face was soon turned into a hysterical meme.

One user said that her face perfectly described going to work on a Monday, while others joked that there's never been another person who 'wanted to go to space less' than the journalist.

But King is embracing it all, as she changed her profile picture on Instagram to a snap of her face after ringing the bell, and even addressed the now-viral moment on CBS Mornings on Tuesday.

'I did not realize that I looked that serious, but it does stand out when you look at everybody else, because [when] they're ringing, they're smiling,' she said on the show.

'I was just thinking, "Let me get into my seat and follow instructions,"' King added.

Her co-hosts Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson agreed, as they explained that they just thought she was getting her 'game face' on.

'But I was also afraid,' King admitted.

The women's quick trip to space was not exactly well-received, with a slew of stars publicly slamming it, including Emily Ratajkowski, Olivia Wilde, Olivia Munn, and Amy Schumer.

On the show, King also responded to the some of the criticism that the trip has received.

'This is what bothers me, I've certainly read some of the stuff being said online and it's coming from people I know, people I consider friends,' she said.

'They call it a ride, which I find very irritating because they never say men went for a ride,' King, 70, said on Tuesday, a day after she her 11-minute, all-woman trip - which has been slammed as a frivolous publicity campaign for Jeff Bezos' space company.

Responding to accusations that the suborbital flight had no real scientific purpose, King spoke with fellow crewmate, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe on CBS Mornings.

'There’s so many things that have been developed in space that benefit Earth... from pharmaceuticals to, like, research on agriculture,' Bowe said.

'And, you know, I paused there because we did research and it was emotional... Part of what I accomplished in my flight was I was looking at the future of being able to produce crops that can withstand harsh environments so we can look at food security here on Earth, and simultaneously, we also were able to certify that device so more people could do research on New Shepard.'

It's unclear what specific research Bowe conducted, but footage of the flight showed the all-female crew floating, marveling at the view, and holding personal items.

Bowe held a small Bahamas flag and pop star Katy Perry carried a daisy and a list of the setlist of her upcoming tour while shrieking the lyrics to Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World.'

'Space is not an either/or ... Just because you do something in space doesn't mean you're taking anything away from Earth.'

The star also insisted that Blue Origin is fiercely dedicated to 'make the planet cleaner.'

'Whenever a man goes up ... you have never said to a [male] astronaut, "What a ride." [Don't] call it a ride,' she continued.

'It's called a flight or a journey. A ride implies it's something frivolous or light hearted. There's nothing frivolous about what we did.'

She added, 'I'm very disappointed and saddened by [the hate]. What it's doing to inspire other women and young girls - please don't ignore that.'

Before the big launch, the anchor had opened up about how nervous she was to go on the trip in an interview for ELLE magazine's April digital issue.

When asked to share her initial reaction to the invitation from Sanchez, King admitted: 'I'm probably the only one at the table who wasn't saying, "Put me in, coach."

'I had a lot of trepidation — I still do — but I also know it's very interesting to be terrified and excited at the same time.'

The seasoned journalist continued: 'I haven't felt like this since childbirth, really. Because I knew childbirth was going to hurt. But it's also stepping out of your comfort zone.'

Thankfully, the Blue Origin returned to land safely.

King was seen sobbing as she arrived to the launch site on Monday morning.

And at the launch site, her close friend Oprah told reporters that the trip was monumental for King due to her fear of flying.

'I've never been more proud. This is bigger than just going to space for [Gayle]. Any time we're on a flight she's in someone's lap if there's the slightest bit of turbulence,' Oprah shared.

'She has real, real, real anxiety flying. This is overcome a wall of fear, a barrier, I think it's gonna be cathartic for her.'

*****

Gayle as usual is coming off tone deaf here. The criticism is not about a bunch of women going into space, so let's not try to make this a sexist argument. Well at least for me it isn't.

The issue people have is that in less than six months we are now in an existential crisis with the current wannabe fascist regime destroying what's left of our democracy, and here you are giving a rim job to the outskirts of earth which is a clear promotion for Amazon's head oligarch's spacecraft.

So while people are losing their 401k's, immigrants with visas and American protesters are being shipped off you an El Salvador prison without due process, we have a bunch of ditzy, clucking hens taking a field trip for 10 minutes in space.

So miss me with the performative sexist argument when there have been actual female astronauts who are doing far more for our planet than you ever will. All you get to come back to earth with is bragging rights.