Christine Baranski slams Katy Perry’s Blue Origin flight as absurd

Christine Baranski made headlines after openly criticising the Blue Origin NS-31 flight that took an all-female crew to the edge of space in April. 

The crew included pop star Katy Perry, broadcaster Gayle King, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sanchez, the wife of Jeff Bezos.

Speaking at the ATX TV Festival in Austin on August 11, the 73 year old actress called the trip a “grotesque display of wealth” and questioned its purpose. “Sending women into a spaceship for what? So they can do their makeup? What the f***?” she said, even slipping into the voice of her Gilded Age character Agnes van Rhijn for emphasis.

Her remarks joined a growing list of celebrity reactions. Emily Ratajkowski posted a TikTok video calling the mission “end time s***” and accused it of being wasteful. 

Olivia Wilde shared a meme joking about Katy's landing moment, while Olivia Munn described the flight as “a bit gluttonous” and wondered what it actually achieved for people on Earth.

However, Gayle King, one of the passengers, spoke out on CBS Mornings in response to the criticism, saying that there was “nothing frivolous” about the trip and explained that Blue Origin’s work aimed to make the planet cleaner by exploring how to move waste into space. 

Gayle also highlighted the inspiration the mission gave to women and young girls, saying many reached out to her after the flight. She admitted she felt “very disappointed and very saddened” by the negative comments.