Gayle King on ‘disrespectful’ space flight backlash, celebrity friends ‘throwing shade’

In an interview with “Extra,” the “CBS Mornings” anchor, who blasted off Monday for a celebrity-studded space mission sponsored by the Jeff-Bezos-backed exploration company Blue Origin, said critics have merely not done enough research.

“I wish people would do more due diligence,” she said. “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.’”

The mission, which saw pop star Katy Perry and Bezos’ fiancé Lauren Sánchez join King and three others for the first all-female flight to space in decades, was marketed as a feminist win and a tribute to life on earth.

Critics, including several celebrities, however, chided the female “astronauts” for aiding what they saw as a marketing play for Blue Origin’s expensive flights to space and helping to put an activist sheen on a company that contributes to Earth’s pollution.

King said she herself might have once been among those critics.

We’ve got today’s buzz: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Everyone’s Talking newsletter for more trending topics.

“I think it’s good that we can really address it … because I was one of those people before I went on this flight and before I became educated,” she said, adding that Blue Origin’s “intention” is more noble than she thought.

“To figure out a way to harness the waste here and put it in space to make the Earth a better place,” King said, describing her view of Blue Origin’s mission. “Every time a flight goes up, they get some type of information that can be used for something else.”

Citing GPS systems and satellites, King heralded Blue Origin as helping advance the everyday uses of space technology that humans already rely on.

Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez hit back at Blue Origin backlash

After touching back down on Earth, both Perry and Sánchez said their view of the planet from space helped them to feel more grateful for it, with Perry even kissing the ground when she exited the capsule.

The comments quickly became fodder for critics who pointed out that space flights can contribute to pollution and that Bezos, also the founder of Amazon, has a large negative environmental footprint. Some detractors also critiqued the length of the flight, characterizing the 11-minute jaunt as more of a stunt than a true mission for discovery.

“It’s so much money to go to space,” actress Olivia Munn said in an appearance on the “Today” show earlier this month. “There’s a lot of people who can’t even afford eggs … I think it’s a bit gluttonous.

“Space exploration was to further our knowledge and to help mankind,” said the actress, who was serving as a guest host of the show alongside Jenna Bush Hager. “What are they going to do up there that has made it better for us down here?”

King scoffed at those criticisms as well, 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.”

Sánchez echoed that sentiment in a press conference following the mission, telling People, “Anybody that’s criticizing it doesn’t really understand what is happening here.”

“I get really fired up,” Sánchez added. “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. They love their work and they love the mission and it’s a big deal for them.”

“I know there are cranky Yankees, I know there are some haters, but I’m not gonna let people steal my joy and steal the joy of what we did or what we accomplished that day,” King said. “I’m just not going to let it in. I’m not. And these are some of my friends that are throwing shade!”