Gayle King says Blue Origin backlash is 'sexist' in explosive rant

Gayle King has slammed people who called her Blue Origin flight a 'space ride', claiming it's 'sexist'. The 70-year-old broadcast journalist joined the likes of , Jeff Bezos's fiancée Lauren Sanchez, former Nasa rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen and film producer Kerianne Flynn on the 11-minute journey.

The group of women safely completed the flight to the Kármán line – the internationally recognised boundary of space - and back from a private Texas ranch on Monday morning in the rocket that belongs to Jeff Bezos. They floated weightlessly for three minutes before returning back to Earth.

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Speaking in an interview following her flight, Gayle shared her thoughts on people calling the journey a 'space ride'. She said of the highly-criticised journey: "They call it a ride, which I find very irritating because they never say men went for a ride."

She also responded to accusation the flight didn't have any real scientific purpose. Gayle and Aisha Bowe - her crewmate - spoke on CBS Mornings on Tuesday about their experience.

"There’s so many things that have been developed in space that benefit Earth... from pharmaceuticals to, like, research on agriculture," Aisha said.

"And, you know, I paused there because we did research and it was emotional... Part of what I accomplished in my flight was I was looking at the future of being able to produce crops that can withstand harsh environments so we can look at food security here on Earth, and simultaneously, we also were able to certify that device so more people could do research on New Shepard."

Gayle previously slammed those calling the flight a 'ride', saying they have never said to a [male] astronaut, "'What a ride.' [Don't] call it a ride.."

She added: "It's called a flight or a journey. A ride implies it's something frivolous or light hearted. There's nothing frivolous about what we did."

It comes after Ms Sanchez, Jeff Bezos' wife, said in a video post that she hoped the mission would inspire people to “dream big”. "If someone would have told me that I would be able to go to space one day, I would have definitely, well, I don’t know, laughed”, she said.

“I can’t believe it’s happening. My dad used to teach people how to fly, and I used to hang around the hanger and I thought dreaming of becoming a pilot was a huge deal, and this is even bigger.

“The incredible women that are going on this flight are extraordinary in all of their fields, but more importantly, they’re incredible storytellers.

"So what I’m hoping for is, this flight is not just transformative for them, but also for all of the people that they tell their story to. Hopefully it sparks that imagination to a dream big and reach for the stars.”

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