'Disappointed' Gayle King responds to backlash over Blue Origin space trip

Gayle King has said she's "disappointed and saddened" by the backlash to the all-female Blue Origin space mission, following accusations of the group being "out of touch".

The 70-year-old joined Katy Perry, Jeff Bezos' wife Lauren Sanchez, Amanda Nguyen, rocket scientist Aisha Bowe and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

However, despite the historic significance of the mission, it was met with backlash, with members of the public telling the group to "read the room", and even fellow A-listers chiming in and calling the whole thing a "parody".

Blue Origin

“That space mission this morning – that’s end-times s**t. Like, this is beyond parody,” Emily Ratajkowski said in a TikTok video.

She continued: “[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?

“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?”

She ended the clip by saying she was "disgusted" that the Jeff Bezos-funded trip was allowed to take place.

Olivia Munn chimed into the conversation: “I know this probably isn’t the cool thing to say, but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now."

However, journalist Gayle King insists that the trip "wasn't frivolous" and had a bigger objective.

"Space is not an either or, it's a both and, and because you do something in space doesn't mean you're taking anything away from Earth. And what you're doing in space is trying to make things better here on Earth", she said on CBS' Mornings.

"There was nothing frivolous about what we do. So, you know, I'm very disappointed and very saddened by it [the criticism]. And I also say this — what it's doing to inspire other women and young girls? Please don't ignore that. I've had so many women and young girls reach out to me, and men too, by the way. Men too that say, 'Wow, I never thought I could do that, but I see you doing it at this stage of your life.'"

Why not read...

Lauren Sanchez hits out at Blue Origin criticism in 'fired up' post

Emily Ratajkowski slams Katy Perry's Blue Origin space mission: 'This is beyond parody'

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