Actress Olivia Wilde has joined the ever-increasing list of celebrities who have mocked Blue Origin’s recent all-female space mission led by Jeff Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez and including pop icon Katy Perry.
The jab was posted alongside a viral image of Katy Perry dramatically kissing the ground after returning to Earth, captioned: “Getting off a commercial flight in 2025.”
Highlights
- Olivia Wilde slammed Blue Origin's all-female space trip as a 'vanity project.'
- Many netizens and celebrities criticized the mission as wasteful.
- Blue Origin's crew faced backlash but claimed the mission inspired women.
- Critics argue the space trip was out of touch with current global issues.
The scathing remark resonated with many netizens who felt the trip was nothing but a “vanity project” disguised as progress.
Olivia Wilde sent the internet into a frenzy by brutally roasting the crew of Blue Origin’s all-female space mission
Image credits: Matt Winkelmeyer/MG23
“Billion dollars bought some good memes, I guess,” Wilde wrote.
As Bored Panda previously reported, Blue Origin—a private space technology company owned by Bezos—launched its NS-31 capsule for a brief 11-minute flight beyond the Kármán line, carrying six women in what was touted as the first all-female spaceflight since 1963.
Image credits: blueorigin
Alongside Sánchez and Perry were journalist Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics researcher Amanda Nguyễn, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.
Image credits: oliviawilde
Wilde isn’t alone in her disapproval. Olivia Munn, co-host of Today with Jenna and Friends, was visibly baffled when told about the mission, stating, “I know this probably isn’t the cool thing to say,” Munn said, “but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now.”
Image credits: Kevin Mazur/VF25/Getty
Model Emily Ratajkowski went even further in a viral TikTok rant, calling the flight “beyond parody” and questioning the entire premise.
“What was the marketing there?” she asked. “I’m disgusted. Literally, I’m disgusted.”
Blogger Meghan McCain didn’t miss the chance to join in on the conversation, echoing Ratajkowski’s assessment.
“Katy Perry and Gayle King being launched into space while publicly saying they are bringing the ‘ass back to astronauts’ and ‘makeup/glam is important for the mission’ is some kind of Black Mirror parody and you can’t convince me otherwise,” she wrote on X.
Netizens and celebrities joined in to criticize the mission, considering it a wasteful "vanity project"
Image credits: amyschumer
Amy Schumer also took a dig, joking she got a last-minute invite and planned to bring a random Black Panther toy to space.
"It has no meaning to me, but it was in my bag," she quipped, poking fun at Perry's symbolic daisy tribute to her daughter.
While the exact cost of a Blue Origin ticket remains a mystery, the company auctioned a seat for its first crewed flight in 2021 for $28 million. Adjusted for inflation, this value ascends to $33 million per seat in 2025.
Real customer value is estimated to be around $500,000, considering that one of Blue Origin's competitors, Virgin Galactic, offered rides between $200,000 and $400,000 in 2021.
"It’s not about money; it’s about who you are, your social capital," explained Roman Chiporukha, co-founder of space travel booking company SpaceVIP at the time to People Magazine.
Lauren Sánchez and crew addressed the backlash as soon as they returned to Earth
Image credits: blueorigin
“I get really fired up,” she admitted. “Come with me. I’ll show you what this is about—it’s really eye-opening.”
For Sánchez, the mission meant much more than a simple publicity stunt, and she took issue with people calling it a “waste of money,” pointing out the thousands of talented employees who made her trip possible.
“They love their work and they love the mission.”
Image credits: blueorigin
Gayle King echoed her sentiment, saying critics “don’t really understand what is happening here.”
Aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe also addressed the public’s concerns, explaining that the trip was an important milestone in making careers in science more attractive to women all around the world.
“When I decided to pursue aerospace engineering, my high school guidance counselor told me to consider cosmetology instead,” Bowe shared, and called the project “bigger than the criticism.”
"Tone deaf": Netizens celebrated Wilde's take and kept slamming the launch online
