In this week’s ‘only in the chaos dystopia that is 2025!’ news, Katy Perry and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ fiancé, Lauren Sánchez, went to space for a whole 11 minutes. Since then, a huge chunk of the internet, celebs like Emily Ratajkowski and Olivia Munn included, rightly called out their audaciously disconnected display of wealth during a time of real hardship for millions of people. Along with the way they trussed it all up as ‘FeMaLe EmPoWeRmEnT!’.
For those not familiar, the Blue Origin (which is owned by Bezos) flight took off yesterday and had an all-female crew of six, the first of its kind; joining Sánchez and Perry were TV presenter and journalist Gayle King (think: an American Lorraine Kelly), rocket scientist Aisha Bowe (fair play), anti-sexual violence activist and bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen (again, legit) and film producer and space enthusiast, Kerianne Flynn. Kris and Khloé Kardashian were, of course, there to cheer them on.
“That space mission this morning? That’s end time sh*t. Like, this is beyond parody,” EmRata told her 2.7 million followers on TikTok. “[Saying] that you care about Mother Earth and it’s about Mother Earth, and you’re going up in a spaceship that is built and paid for by a company that’s singlehandedly destroying the planet?
“Look at the state of the world and think about how many resources went into putting these women into space.”
The team behind the stunt (seemingly spearheaded by Sánchez) attempted to bill the space tourism jaunt, which is reported to have cost several million dollars, as an empowering win for feminism.
Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos (the founder of Amazon)
Others labelled it the latest episode of the Real Housewives of Mars. A show that no one wants: not least during a cost of living crisis, when women’s rights are being rolled back and the climate emergency – already killing and displacing millions across the global south – had Hollywood on literal fire mere months ago.
Yes, it’s bad, given man first walked on the moon in the 1960s, that there has never been a female-only rocket to charter space. But this, now, really?! It speaks to the wild delusion of the super rich. Startling evidence that the ‘good sense’ gap in the US is as cavernous as its wealth divide. (Something that could be at least partly remedied by, oh, say, a certain Blue Origin-owning billionaire being fairly taxed on his billions…)
Honestly, to me, it’s all very akin to that myth of Marie Antoinette allegedly telling starving French peasants to shut up and “eat cake” if they’ve run out of bread. Especially the bit where, after touching back down to earth, Perry – a woman who took a copy of the setlist for her upcoming tour with her on the rocket to get some cheeky promo in – claimed, “It’s not about me, it’s not about singing my songs, it’s about a collective energy in there, it’s about us. […] This is all for the benefit of Earth.” Vom.
Personally, I have not felt the benefit of Katy Perry and Lauren Sánchez going to space. Nor has actor Olivia Munn who described the trip as “gluttonous” and said on a Today With Jenna And Friends appearance ahead of the rocket’s launch: “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? I know that this is probably obnoxious but it’s so much money to go to space. You know, there’s a lot of people that can’t even afford eggs.”
Director of Don’t Worry Darling, Olivia Wilde, also chipped in by sharing a meme of Perry kissing the floor after landing back on earth (and it being likened to surviving a commercial airline flight) with the caption “Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess”. (Fair.)
Attempting to defend the whole ostentatious endeavour, Gayle King said those who prickled at it have failed to “understand what is happening here. We can all speak to the response we’re getting from young women [and] from young girls about what this represents.”
And Sánchez has hit back at critics with, “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 […] 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. So when we hear comments like that, I just say, ‘Trust me. Come with me. I’ll show you what this is about, and it’s really eye-opening’.” Sure, babes! Let me grab my bag!
Naturally, as is the way of the internet, the wealthy celebs who are calling out said other wealthy celebs have also been labelled as hypocritical by some. But honestly? I’m glad EmRata and co said what they said. The whole thing is f*cking ridiculous – and what’s worse, it sounds like the list of celebs clamouring to get on board the next rocket ship is only growing.
Earth to Hollywood: embarking on a billion-dollar, 11-minute space mission as the world burns is really, really not the flex you think it is.
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Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK’s multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She’s grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
