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CBS News host Gayle King took issue with those who referred to her eight minutes in space — with an all-female, celebrity-heavy “crew” — as “a ride,” arguing that it was sexist and “disrespectful” to do so.
King responded to critics in an interview with Extra after her Blue Origin space flight — alongside performer Katy Perry and Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez, among others — returned to earth, also hitting back at those who complained about the expense of such a “frivolous” trip.
WATCH:
Gayle King responds to criticism of her Blue Origin space flight, says people calling it "a ride" is "disrespectful." Full interview 🔗: https://t.co/VIwjEycANG pic.twitter.com/c1Bn6Jntaq
— ExtraTV (@extratv) April 15, 2025
“I think it’s good that we can really address it,” King said. “Because I was one of those people before I went on this flight and before I became educated on space. ‘Why are we spending so much money on space when there’s so much to do on Earth?’ I was one of those people.”
King said that part of what had changed her mind was learning that Blue Origin intended “to figure out a way to harness the waste here and figure out a way to put it in space to make the planet Earth a better place.”
“So I wish people would do more due diligence. And then my question is, have y’all been to space? Go to space or go to Blue Origin and see what they do … and then come back and say, ‘This is a terrible thing,'” King continued, arguing that if there were more demand for commercial space flights, the cost of such a flight would eventually come down.
King went on to complain about the underlying sexist tone of those referring to the eight-minute space flight as “a ride,” saying, “You never see a man, a male astronaut, who’s going up in space and they say, ‘Oh, he took a ride.’ … It’s always referred to as a flight or a journey, so I feel that’s a little disrespectful to what the mission was and the work that Blue Origin does.”
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh hit back at King, mocking her for referring to herself as “an astronaut” and saying, “Gayle King thinks she’s an astronaut because she took a 10 minute ride on her friend’s boyfriend’s rocket ship.”
Gayle King thinks she’s an astronaut because she took a 10 minute ride on her friend’s boyfriend’s rocket ship
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 16, 2025
“Astronauts were stranded in space for 9 months. When they were rescued, they just said thank you and went back to work,” conservative pundit Stephen L. Miller pointed out.
Astronauts were stranded in space for 9 months. When they were rescued, they just said thank you and went back to work. https://t.co/B6JhoSRDwC
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 15, 2025
Katy Perry was also mocked for overblowing the importance of the trip. “Katy Perry out here acting like she was just stranded in space by Joe Biden for nearly a year,” one commented after video circulated of the pop star kissing the ground.
Katy Perry out here acting like she was just stranded in space by Joe Biden for nearly a year
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) April 14, 2025
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