Gayle King attempts to shut down criticism of Blue Origin’s all-female space crew, but the internet roasts her reasoning

Gayle King defended her recent voyage to space. The news correspondent for CBS was part of the all-women Blue Origin mission to space held on April 14, 2025. While some declared it historic, others proceeded to condemn its purpose. Now, Gayle King has stepped forth to give her opinion on the same.

Speaking to People Magazine and Extra, King stated:

"Because you do something in space, doesn’t mean you’re taking anything away from Earth and what you’re doing in space is trying to make things better here on Earth."

She added,

"What Blue Origin wants to do is take the waste here, figure out a way to put it in space to make our planet cleaner. Jeff Bezos has so many ideas, and the people that are working there are really devoted and dedicated to making our planet a better place."

And then followed the final bite: if you haven't gone to space, you can't have an opinion about anything that moves—about planes, about cars, about elevators, or even about escalators.

It's the presumption that once you've departed this planet, somehow you understand something that the rest of us can never.

"...Have you been? Have you been? If you been, and you still feel that way after you come back, please. Let’s have a conversation."

Gayle King commented that she was annoyed at some referring to her spaceflight as a "ride." She also added that their purported mission was just like the historic one by Alan Shepard... nothing different.

One can only speculate about the potential humorous roller coaster that netizens may be experiencing. Users are laughing out loud at the reasoning behind the excuse.

One could argue that Gayle King only makes the situation worse—or funny.

From pointing out that she stated Jeff Bezos wants to clean the planet by throwing the debris in space to claiming that those who are criticizing don't understand what it's like to be up there, users cannot convince themselves to stop pointing out the entertaining takes.

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Gayle King responds to backlash over all-female Blue Origin launch — internet can’t stop laughing

Netizens cannot stop mocking the idea of sending Earth's garbage into space to clean it up. To the users, this seems like a fluke at best. Hence, they resorted to posting big-brain-moment GIFs.

Taking a jab at making Earth cleaner reasoning, a user posted a funny GIF and said:

"lEt's TAke THE wASte herE and PuT It IN Space TO MAkE Our PLANET cLEaNER."

Another user, @agus_tincher, added:

"I can't believe how delusional she is. Yeah let's take all our trash to space, good plan."

A user @jellen805 stated:

"Wait... Blue Origin's mission is to take garbage from the earth and put it in Space??? WTF!"

Next is the renowned "Have you been?" remark.

Users roast Gayle King, stating that, of course, they have not.

Netizens pointed out that Gayle King is definitely out of touch with reality since she asks individuals whether they have ever traveled to space while the majority of them can't even eat.

A user @eternalcumslimz mentioned:

"People are literally out here struggling and she’s like “have you beeen??” Lmao girl, what are you even talking about people can't even afford healthcare 😭😭"

Another user, @tazntampa, went on to say:

"Gayle: "Have you been?" The 99% 'ers: "Girl, we're struggling just trying to put food on the table for our families. Have you seen the price of eggs lately? How the F*** can we afford to go?"."

A user @realsimonsz pointed out:

""Have you been?" Tell me you're out of touch with regular people without telling me you're out of touch."

Some commenters roasted the group, asking why Gayle King was acting as if they had gone on a pilgrimage when they had just spent ten minutes or so there. Gayle King was then advised by social media to take things as they are and not sugarcoat them.

A user, DrAnnLopez, said:

"Oh Gayle you are not inspiring anyone with this vanity project. You have money, you liked it, and you went. Stop trying to convince the world it’s a noble cause. Why would anyone take trash from earth to space?"

Another user @_virgolicious_x opined:

"“have you been” 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 if your response to critics of you going to space is “have you been”, i think it immediately validates the criticism."

One user @itslinklauren stated:

"They’re really in the trenches with this PR disaster. You floated around for five minutes. Relax. It was a thrill ride for the rich. You’re acting like you went on an Eat, Pray, Love life-changing journey. 😂"

Other crew members, including Lauren Sánchez, also defended the flight. She stated:

"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."

"... Trust me. Come with me. I'll show you what this is about, and it's, it's really eye-opening."

But then again, you really cannot go with Lauren Sánchez even if you wanted to view the "eye-opening" stuff yourself.

Also, read: Olivia Wilde throws shade at Blue Origin’s space trip, netizens say: "Millionaires complaining about billionaires will never not be funny"