UFC's Sean Strickland calls Blue Origin crew 'mentally stunted famous women' as flood of backlash pours in over event



Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland had choice words for the women who were selected by Jeff Bezos' fiancée to fly to the edge of outer space.

The New Shepard program launched by Bezos' Blue Origin featured an all-female crew that consisted of singer Katy Perry, CBS host Gayle King, activist Amanda Nguyen, scientist Aisha Bowe, filmmaker Kerianne Flynn, and Bezos' fiancée, Lauren Sanchez.

Heralded as an all-time event to advance space exploration for women, the celebrity crew took an 11-minute trip 62 miles above Earth to the Karman line, the official boundary of space.

Upon the flight's return, Perry and others were mocked for their over-the-top dramatics, which included Perry kissing the ground and raising a daisy to the sky to signal to her daughter of the same name. Perry also told reporters she felt "super connected to life" and "so connected to love."

Perry not only sang "What a Wonderful World" while suspended in space, but she took the opportunity to show the set list for an upcoming tour on one of the spacecraft's cameras.

Backlash from the publicity stunt has been swift and strong, including from Strickland, who did not hold back when it came to criticizing Perry's actions.

"Yall just realizing the girl you love for writing a song 'I kissed a girl and liked it' is a f**king idiot lmao," Strickland wrote on his X page. "What do you expect a group of mentally stunted famous women are going to do in space?"

— (@)

While the harsh words may be expected from Strickland at this point, he was by far not the only celebrity to mock the situation. Female celebrities especially did not care for the pageantry of the ordeal, with several criticizing the idea of the event being a historical accomplishment for women.

Actresses Olivia Wilde and Olivia Munn both took shots at the female crew for their lack of self-awareness.

"Is it historic that you guys are going on a ride? I think it’s a bit gluttonous," Munn said in an interview.

"Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess," Wilde wrote.

Model Emily Ratajkowski called the event "beyond parody" and said she was "disgusted, literally, I am disgusted."

Singer Camila Cabello specifically mocked Perry for promoting her tour on the all-important space trip and posted a slow-motion parody video of her own tour dates. The video was captioned, "didn't have the budget to fly to space to promote my tour dates so I made this TikTok instead."

The space flight was indeed meant to serve as a groundbreaking event to showcase the importance of women in space. Instead, it has been received as a shameless promotion of the lives of wealthy women who were able to take an ultra-exclusive trip, which in 2025 equates to outer space.

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Actresses Olivia Munn and Olivia Wilde mock all-female trip to space: 'Is it historic that you guys are going on a ride?'



Actress Olivia Munn called out the recent all-female space crew for "gluttonous" spending after the celebrity-laden event was glorified as a landmark achievement for women.

An all-female celebrity crew went into what is technically considered space this week and was publicized as a benefit for "humankind."

The New Shepard program, launched by Blue Origin under Jeff Bezos, sent an all-women flight (NS-31) into what is generally considered the boundary between Earth and outer space. Crew members included singer Katy Perry, CBS host Gayle King, activist Amanda Nguyen, scientist Aisha Bowe, filmmaker Kerianne Flynn, and Bezos' fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, who was responsible for the crew's selection.

The publicity stunt was even heralded by former astronaut Mae Jemison, who claimed the mission was about expanding the perspective of who is involved in space travel. The 68-year-old also made sure to correct a CBS host's usage of the term "mankind" and reinforced the use of "humankind," further bringing a feminist angle to the trip.

'What are they gonna do up there that has made it better for us down here?'

The alleged feat did not impress everyone, though. Actress Olivia Munn went off on the participants for rubbing such an expensive trip in the face of average Americans.

"What are they doing?" Munn asked while co-hosting "Today With Jenna & Friends."

She continued: “I know this probably isn't the cool thing to say, but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now."

"I know this is probably obnoxious, but like, it's so much money to go to space, and there's a lot of people who can't even afford eggs," Munn went on, again asking, "What's the point?"

"Is it historic that you guys are going on a ride? I think it’s a bit gluttonous," she added. "What are they gonna do up there that has made it better for us down here?"

While Blue Origin once auctioned off a seat for $28 million, current estimates have such flights ranging between $150,000 and $450,000 per seat, according to People.

To make matters worse, there are currently a number of female astronauts — even some from Blue Origin trips — who are in space or have recently returned from a mission.

At the same time, actress Olivia Wilde took to her Instagram page to mock the trip with a picture of singer Perry kissing the ground upon her return, despite the flight taking only 11 minutes.

"Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess," Wilde wrote.

The self-driving rocket took the celebrities 62 miles above Earth to what is called the Karman line, known internationally as the official boundary of space. The crew experienced approximately four minutes of weightlessness.

Sanchez said that the crew members were going to go up to space to "spread what they felt in different ways."

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‘Kumbaya bulls**t’: Katy Perry’s post-space flight comments will make you CRINGE



Apparently, we’re supposed to jump and cheer because an all-female flight crew went to space for 11 whole minutes, supposedly proving that girls can do anything.

Maybe some of the world is celebrating. But those of us who know that this so-called gender gap is largely made up by radical left feminists — we’re all rolling our eyes.

That includes Sara Gonzales, who knows that this little stunt wasn’t some huge win for women. All that happened was “a bunch of chicks went to space.”

The flight crew included six women — Lauren Sánchez, fiancée to Jeff Bezos; pop star Katy Perry; Gayle King, co-host of "CBS Mornings" and editor at large at Oprah Daily; Kerianne Flynn, film producer and documentarian; Aisha Bowe, a former NASA rocket scientist; and Amanda Nguyen, a bioastronautics research scientist.

Upon landing, Katy Perry described the flight as “the highest high” and “surrender to the unknown — trust.”

She also said that the journey made her feel “super connected to love.”

“You never know how much love is inside of you, like how much love you have to give,” she said, claiming the mission was “all for the benefit of Earth” and that she had to “trust that the universe was gonna take care of [her].”

“You’ve got to trust in yourself on this journey, and then you feel in love when you come down for sure. And you’re feeling that strength, so I feel really connected to that divine feminine right now,” she continued.

“Trust in yourself? You didn’t do anything,” scoffs Sara.

BlazeTV contributor Matthew Marsden calls Perry’s comments “a whole collection of Kumbaya bulls**t.”

“This is what happens when you come away from real faith. ... You have to come up with some mumbo jumbo to connect to something bigger than you,” he says, alluding to Perry’s forsaken Christian upbringing.

“It's all about the all-female flight crew; it's all about what race people are. We've got to play the intersectionality wars, and, ‘Oh wow, an all-female space crew!’” derides Sara. “Remind me to never sign up for that ever if it's anything like what I just watched.”

To see the footage of Katy Perry’s insufferable speech and hear more of the panel’s commentary, watch the clip above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

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Titanic-bound submersible goes missing in Atlantic Ocean; massive rescue efforts under way
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Titanic-bound submersible goes missing in Atlantic Ocean; massive rescue efforts under way



A submersible bound for the wreckage of the Titanic has gone missing in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, CTV News reported Monday.

"We are bringing all assets to bear to try to find the submersible," Rear Admiral John Mauger, U.S. Coast Guard First District Commander, said in an interview on Fox News Channel's "America Reports" Monday afternoon.

"We were notified yesterday afternoon, and we began immediately to mobilize assets to search both the surface of the water, search from the air, and then also launch equipment that would enable us to detect any vessels under the water."

"The good news is ... this particular submersible is advertised to have 96 hours of survival time. .. That gives us some time to continue to use all means to try to locate the crew members."

The vessel is operated by OceanGate Expeditions. An eight-day, seven-night tour to visit the wreckage costs about $250,000, according to a recently archived version of the now-unreachable website.

"We are exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely," an OceanGate Expeditions spokesperson told CTV Monday.

"Our entire focus is on the crew members in the submersible and their families."

"We are deeply thankful for the extensive assistance we have received from several government agencies and deep sea companies in our efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible," the OceanGate Expeditions spokesperson also said.

The missing vessel is reportedly designed to surface automatically if it encounters an issue.

Mauger described the search and rescue operations as "very complicated."

"Anything is possible at this point," Mauger said, adding that the vessel is about 900 miles from the U.S. coast in Massachusetts.

He said C-130 Coast Guard aircraft have been launched. An aircraft that was in the area that normally is on "international iceberg patrol" has been retasked to help search on the surface. Aircraft from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, have also been deployed to the scene.

"It is a large area of water, and it is complicated by local weather conditions, as well," Mauger added of the comprehensive search efforts, which also involve authorities in Canada.

"We're looking into bringing additional vessels that are operating in the area," he said, including a research vessel that was within several hours of the missing submersible.

World explorer Hamish Harding's family confirmed on Facebook that he is among the five people in the missing submersible, according to the New York Post.

Harding reportedly also paid to ride the Blue Origin rocket last year.

The Titanic sank in 1912. It sits roughly 12,500 feet below the surface.

TheBlaze reached out to OceanGate Expeditions and to the U.S. Coast Guard's First District, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Watch an 8K video below from an OceanGate Expeditions 2022 trip to visit the wreckage of the Titanic.

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VIDEO: Visibly emotional William Shatner's hilarious reaction to floating in space for the first time



Legendary actor William Shatner became the oldest person to travel to space earlier this week, and his reaction was nothing short of priceless.

Shatner, who famously portrayed Captain James T. Kirk in "Star Trek," was blown away by his first space trip.

What are the details?

Blue Origin shared video Wednesday of Shatner's hilarious reaction to weightlessly floating in space in the aerospace giant's New Shepard capsule.

In the now-viral clip, Shatner can be heard saying, "Weightlessness! Oh, Jesus. ... No description can equal this. Wow."

Shatner was accompanied by Blue Origin vice president of mission and flight operations Audrey Powers, Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen, and Medidata Solutions co-founder Glen de Vries.

According to People, Shatner told Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin founder, that the trip was unlike anything he ever imagined or experienced.

"I hope I never recover from this. I hope I can maintain what I feel now," he said. "I don't want to lose it. It's so, so much larger than me. It has to do with the enormity and the quickness and the rudeness of life and death."

He continued, "What I would love to do is communicate as much as possible the jeopardy, the moment you see the vulnerability of everything. It's so small. This air which is keeping us alive is thinner than your skin. It's a sliver. It's immeasurably small when you think in terms of the universe. I am overwhelmed. I had no idea."

On Thursday, Shatner added that everything "just stood still" when he arrived in space on the suborbital mission.

"When I was there [in space], everything I thought might be clever to say [about the trip] went out the window," he admitted. "I was overwhelmed with the experience, with the sensation of looking at death and looking at life. It's become a cliché of how we need to take care of the planet, but it's so fragile. I was struck so profoundly by it."

This was the voyage of the RSS First Step today. Its mission: encounter Earth from incredible views at apogee https://t.co/Gzsnkv97K9

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) 1634157050.0