Gayle King and Lauren Sánchez have fired back at critics, including celebrities Amy Schumer, Olivia Wilde, and Olivia Munn, who questioned their participation in Blue Origin’s historic NS-13 mission — the first all-female space crew since 1963.
The trailblazing team, featuring King, Sánchez, Katy Perry, Amanda Nguyen, Aisha Bowe, and Kerianne Flynn, made headlines for their milestone journey, despite facing backlash from some in the public eye.
King, 70, responded to the backlash just hours after safely returning from her successful 11-minute journey into space aboard Blue Origin’s all-female NS-13 mission.
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“Anybody that’s criticizing it doesn’t really understand what is happening here,” the journalist told PEOPLE.
“We can all speak to the response we’re getting from young women from young girls about what this represents.”
Sánchez, fiancée of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, also addressed the criticism following the NS-13 launch, saying it only made her feel more “fired up” about the historic all-female space mission.
“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,” Sanchez, 55, told the outlet.
“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, it’s really eye-opening.”
Earlier this month, Munn, 44, called the mission “gluttonous” during an episode of “Today With Jenna and Friends.”
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“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. What are you guys gonna do up in space? What are you doing up there?” Munn questioned.
“If you wanna go to space, why do you need to tell us about it, you know? It’s just like, go up there, have a good time, come on down.”
Schumer, 43, also took a jab at the all-female Blue Origin space crew, joining a chorus of celebrities who criticized the historic mission.
“Guys, last second, they added me to space, and I’m going to space,” the comedian joked in an Instagram video on launch day.
“I’m bringing this thing. It has no meaning to me, but it was in my bag, and I was on the Subway, and I got the text, and they were like, ‘Do you want to go to space?’ so I’m going to space.”
Wilde, 44, joined in on the backlash by mocking Jeff Bezos on Instagram for funding the high-cost all-female Blue Origin space mission.
“Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess,” she wrote on her story, along with a photo of Perry kissing the ground after returning from space.
Model Emily Ratajkowski added her voice to the criticism of the all-female Blue Origin space mission, expressing concern that such brief spaceflights are harmful to the environment and contribute to the degradation of “Mother Earth.”
“That space mission this morning? That’s end time s–t. Like, this is beyond parody,” Ratajkowski told her TikTok followers in a selfie-style video filmed in the car.
“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?”
Blue Origin’s New Shepard 31 successfully launched at 9:30 a.m. from its West Texas base, carrying an all-female crew of six.
As with past space tourism missions, the company created a custom insignia for the astronauts’ suits, highlighting their names and nodding to their achievements.
This marked New Shepard’s 11th human spaceflight.
