Gayle King 'Disappointed' by Criticism of Blue Origin Space Flight

Gayle King was part of an all-female crew that returned safely to Earth after an 11-minute space flight on Monday.

The CBS Mornings anchor kissed the ground after touching down in West Texas with socialite Lauren Sánchez, superstar singer Katy Perry, rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, scientist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

The women traveled 62 miles above Earth, according to Blue Origin. Sánchez’s fiancé, billionaire Jeff Bezos, founded the space tourism company that was behind the journey.

While the female space travelers were over the moon, the backlash was swift.

Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski slammed the Blue Origin crew and Bezos for wasting money and causing pollution with the brief space flight.

“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,” Ratajkowski said on TikTok. “I’m disgusted.”

Podcaster and “Popcorned Planet” host Andy Signore called the flight “dumb” in a tweet.

Even fast food chain Wendy’s served up a side of shade, replying to a tweet that said “Katy Perry has returned from space” with — “can we send her back.”

Gayle King responded to the backlash, telling Entertainment Tonight: “I’m very disappointed” by the criticism, and insisted the flight would “inspire other women and young girls.”

Jeff Bezos will likely ignore the criticism. He hopes to turn space flights into a big business venture, by charging over $1 million for a seat on his rockets.