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In the weeks leading up to Monday’s all-female Blue Origin space “mission,” the flight was hyped up as a historical event that would be studied by future generations.
But about 12 minutes after liftoff — when the crew was already back on Earth, posing for pics and chatting with reporters — the whole thing felt more like a PR event to promote Katy Perry’s new tour and Jeff Bezos’ space race side hustle.
Yes, the backlash has now begun, and celebrities — and brands — who are critical of the decision to devote so much time and so many resources to what was essentially a live ad for Bezos’ companies are now making their voices heard.
One giant flop for mankind
“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,” Olivia Munn said on Today ahead of the stunt.
“That space mission this morning — I am disgusted. That’s end time s—. Like, this is beyond parody,” Emily Ratajkowski chimed in on TikTok, adding:
“You say that you care about Mother Earth, and it’s about Mother Earth, and you go up in a spaceship that is built and paid for by a company that is 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?”
“Billion dollars bought some good memes, I guess,” Olivia Wilde posted on Instagram.
Kesha sips soda while serving up major tea
But perhaps the harshest criticism came from Kesha, who managed to make her feelings clear without uttering a word.
When the popular X (formerly Twitter) account Pop Crave posted that Katy had returned to Earth, the always-savage official account for the fast food chain Wendy’s replied:
“Can we send her back?”
Shortly thereafter, Kesha posted a photo of herself enjoying a beverage from — you guessed it! — Wendy’s!
A history of beef
Katy has continued to work with and defend Dr. Luke, the producer whom Kesha has accused of raping her.
As a result, Kesha is not exactly a big Katy fan these days. And it seems she decided to offer her two cents on Katy’s latest controversy by posing with a Wendy’s cup in a gloriously shady selfie.
Katy’s crew mates, including TV personality Gayle King and Bezos fiancee Lauren Sanchez have both lashed out at the critics and basically called them ignorant poors.
“Anybody that’s criticizing it doesn’t really understand what is happening here,” said King, according to People.
“I get really fired up. 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,” Sanchez chimed in.
Maybe they have a point. But at the end of the day, Wendy’s stopped making square burgers long enough to grill up some hilariously unexpected beef (the fresh-never-frozen kind) with Katy.
And all the Frosties in the world can’t take the sting out of that savage burn.
