"The crew, also including Bezos's then-fiancee Lauren Sanchez and CBS presenter Gayle King, were in space for about 11 minutes, during which Perry sang a rendition of Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World and revealed the setlist for her Lifetimes tour. On their return, the pop star kissed the ground and showed a daisy to the camera a tribute to her daughter, Daisy."
"Instead of being hailed as a giant leap for 21st-century feminism, the voyage turned into a colossal PR failure. It was ridiculed for being tone-deaf, an out-of-touch luxury ride for the super-rich during a time of economic hardship. There were so many mocking memes and hot takes that Perry later admitted feeling battered and bruised at being turned into a human pinata."
"But the Blue Origin backlash reflected a broader cultural shift. As the now-viral refrain from Kourtney Kardashian goes, Kim, there's people that are dying. The public's tolerance for the promotion of celebrity as an end in itself is disappearing fast. In a world beset by economic uncertainty, political upheaval, wars and environmental breakdown, is it any surprise we increasingly want to see those with big platforms use them for something more than self-promotion?"
Katy Perry and five other women flew on Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin suborbital flight, singing and marking milestones during an 11-minute trip. Perry performed "What a Wonderful World," revealed a tour setlist, kissed the ground, and displayed a daisy as a tribute to her daughter. The flight generated intense ridicule for appearing tone-deaf and as an out-of-touch luxury experience amid economic hardship. Online mockery and memes framed the voyage as a PR failure, leaving Perry feeling battered. The backlash exemplifies a wider cultural shift in which audiences increasingly reject celebrity self-promotion and expect public figures to use platforms responsibly.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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