I regret to inform you that the discourse surrounding the all-woman mission that sent Katy Perry, Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, and three actual scientists to space for 11 minutes brought to you by Blue Origin, persists. The good news: Olivia Munn, the first celebrity detractor of the flight, has since been joined by a chorus of others that includes Emily Ratajkowski, Olivia Wilde, Jessica Chastain, Kesha, and Wendy’s (yes, the fast-food chain). The bad news: The expensive expedition now has its share of defenders.
In the last few days, King and Sánchez have adamantly attempted to legitimize the trip, with King asserting that the public hasn’t done enough research as to why the trip was so beneficial. “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.’”
Meanwhile, Sánchez simply deployed a bad-faith argument about how happy the Blue Origin employees are. Frankly, that’s difficult to believe given how miserable the underpaid, under-protected laborers over at her fiancé’s other company are. Regardless, some of Hollywood has rallied around the crew. Not only were two of the Kardashians present at the liftoff, but three have since sent Sánchez a $7,000 space-ship purse. Jessica Alba and Ana Navarro also have weighed in this week.
“I’ve seen endless criticism of five women doing their space thing,” Navarro wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday. “I can’t see how it affects our lives.” Respectfully, how does the ultra-wealthy’s slow colonization of space not affect our lives? Who’s paying for this trip? Further, who’s paying for all those that are surely to come in the future?
“I wish people would show [the] same energy and focus that anger toward fearlessly denouncing [President] Trump’s abuses of power,” Navarro continued. “Which do affect countless lives in the US and the world.” Fascinating that, after everything, seemingly intelligent people remain ignorant of the fact that Trump is inextricable from an oligarch-dominated culture that allows the one percent to cosplay as astronauts in the name of feminism. That aside, does Navarro not realize that the very people responsible for this mission have yet to denounce Trump’s abuses of power and, in fact, were literally present at his inauguration?
Still, the message apparently resonated with Alba, who reposted Navarro’s words, adding “This” along with a finger pointing emoji. Sigh.
Then, on Thursday, People published an exclusive with an anonymous source that spoke about Perry’s involvement in the mission. But, more specifically, addressed Wendy’s Twitter jibe at her. In case you missed it, the brand tweeted: “Can we send her back,” in response to one post about Perry’s return from space.
“Wendy’s didn’t make a joke—they made a choice,” the source told People. “Their recent posts on X aimed at Katy Perry were not only disrespectful, but blatantly inappropriate.”
“This wasn’t harmless banter, this was a billion-dollar brand using its platform to publicly demean a woman,” the source continued, noting that “when billion-dollar brands join in, it’s irresponsible.” I get it, but surely that’s not any more irresponsible than a billion-dollar brand investing money in frivolous flights to space…
“Telling a woman that she should be ‘sent back’ is shameful bullying and reflects a troubling willingness to tear down in today’s society,” the source concluded. “What’s worse is that the face of Wendy’s is a woman, which makes this decision not just hypocritical, but painfully ironic.” At this point, I have to assume this anonymous source is literally just Perry herself.
Meanwhile, the pop star hasn’t responded directly to the backlash but instead opted to convince us all that she’s just a regular mom at the end of the day. On Wednesday, she posted a pristinely-packed lunchbox for her daughter, Daisy, on her Instagram story with the caption: “back to the best reality, packing school lunch” alongside a red heart and flower emoji. I’ll note that the sandwich is cut into a star and there’s what appears to be a Saturn on the steel bento box.
Just because Perry is an overnight astronaut now doesn’t mean she’s above packing lunches, I guess. And why respond to the justified criticism when you have fellow elites (and an anonymous source) to do it for you?
GET JEZEBEL RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX
Still here. Still without airbrushing. Still with teeth.
