Lauren Sánchez and Gayle King fire back at backlash over all-female Blue Origin spaceflight

The pair, who were part of the six-member crew that successfully completed the suborbital flight on Monday, addressed the wave of online backlash during post-flight interviews.

"Anybody that’s criticizing doesn’t really understand what is happening here," King, 70, told People.
"We can all speak to the response we're getting from young women from young girls about what this represents."

CBS host Gayle King. Photo courtesy of King's Instagram

Sánchez said she felt "really fired up" by negative reactions to the milestone mission.

"I would love to have them come to Blue Origin and see the thousands of employees that don't just work here but they put their heart and soul into this vehicle," she said.
"They love their work and they love the mission, and it’s a big deal for them."

Addressing her critics directly, she added: "Trust me. Come with me. I'll show you what this is about, and it's, it's really eye-opening."

Their responses come amid high-profile skepticism from some public figures regarding the flight’s purpose and cost, as reported by The Guardian.

Jeff Bezos's fiancée Lauren Sánchez. Photo from Instagram

Earlier this month, American actor Olivia Munn questioned the spaceflight’s significance during an appearance on "Today With Jenna and Friends", saying:
"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.

"What are you guys gonna do up in space? What are you doing up there?"

She continued: "I know this is probably obnoxious, but like, it’s so much money to go to space, and there’s a lot of people who can’t even afford eggs."

Munn also criticized the trip as "a bit gluttonous," arguing that "space exploration was to further our knowledge and to help mankind. What are they gonna do up there that has made it better for us down here?"

Other celebrities also joined the conversation. American actor and director Olivia Wilde remarked that the journey amounted to "a billion dollars [buying] some good memes."

Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski commented on TikTok, calling the flight "end time s–t" and "beyond parody."

Comedian Amy Schumer made light of the mission on Instagram, joking about bringing a toy with "no meaning" into space.

Meanwhile, singer Kesha appeared to reference fellow passenger Katy Perry by posting a selfie sipping from a Wendy’s cup, shortly after the fast-food chain’s viral tweet about sending the "Firework" singer "back to space."

Sánchez, 55, and King were part of Blue Origin’s first all-female crew, which launched from West Texas, U.S, at 9:31 a.m. ET (13:31 GMT) on Monday aboard the New Shepard capsule.

The team experienced a brief period of weightlessness before safely returning to Earth in a flight lasting approximately 11 minutes, according to a livestream from Blue Origin, the space company founded by Bezos. They were joined by singer Katy Perry, NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, activist Vietnamese-American Amanda Ngoc Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.