Houston, we have a publicity stunt! Blue Origin’s all-women flight sparks hoax claims; Katy Perry trolled
Blue Origin’s girl-powered space trip promised to break boundaries. Instead, people online are asking: Was this a milestone or a marketing stunt?
Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space tourism venture, recently made headlines for launching its first all-female crew to the edge of space. The flight, which lasted 11 minutes, featured a high-profile lineup led by Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez and included CBS anchor Gayle King, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, as well as pop star Katy Perry. While the mission was billed as a landmark moment in both private space travel and women’s representation in the industry, the internet had other ideas.
According to a growing faction of online sceptics, the entire mission may not have been what it appeared to be. Comments across Reddit and X are casting doubt not just on the mission’s purpose, but on whether it even happened at all. The scepticism was ignited by a now-viral video, a snippet of the original live, posted by Blue Origin. The video showed Bezos using a lever to open the capsule door post-landing, despite the fact that it already appeared to be unlatched from the inside. Many netizens quickly pointed out this bizarre discrepancy, saying that such a design contradicted standard spacecraft protocols, especially after incidents like Apollo 1.
“That is not a space vehicle. Look up Apollo 1, the fire,” one Reddit user wrote. “After that, every return vehicle made since then has doors that open outward. Also, just look at the thing. No way that flimsy thing is gonna stand up to the pressure differentials a return vehicle will experience. Not to mention all those giant windows.” Another user added, “Whole thing looked fake. Did you see the capsule door open after it ‘landed’? My bathroom door is more secure than that hatch.”
Katy Perry gets trolled
But perhaps the most viral moment came courtesy of Katy Perry, whose space antics drew both fascination and ridicule. Upon exiting the capsule, Perry paused dramatically, held up a daisy, dropped to her knees, kissed the ground, and delivered a poetic post-flight monologue. “This journey has always been about love and belonging,” she told reporters. “It’s not about singing my songs. It’s about a collective energy in there. It’s about making space for future women and taking up space and belonging.”
The performance did not go down well with everyone. “Katy has truly some of the worst instincts, it is amazing,” one Reddit comment read. “Maybe she should try doing the exact opposite of what she thinks is a good idea, because things haven’t exactly been going well. The comeback album flopped, the tour didn’t sell, and no one bought into this publicity stunt.”
And now, according to a Daily Mail report, an insider claimed that Perry may be experiencing some spaceflight regret, not about the mission itself, but about how it was received. “Katy doesn’t regret going to space. It was life-changing. What she does regret is making a public spectacle out of it,” the insider said, noting her zero-gravity moments where she stared into the camera with a soft smile, promoted her upcoming tour with a butterfly setlist and floated dramatically with a flower. The pop star has yet to publicly address the criticism surrounding her space mission directly.
So did it actually happen?
According to the live webcast and Blue Origin's statement, as well as the crew, the Blue Origin capsule reached the Kármán line, the internationally recognised imaginary boundary of space. But for many viewers, the farce and show surrounding the flight made it hard to take seriously. While the mission was meant to be empowering, it ended up raising more eyebrows than aspirations, and in true internet fashion, if there’s room for doubt, there will be conspiracy threads and enough Reddit scepticism to last until the next launch.
