“She’s a Nepo friend” - Comedian Heather McDonald weighs in on Gayle King backlash over expensive Blue Origin space flight

Gayle King, who took the short journey to the outer limits of space with other celebrities on the Blue Origin Space Mission on Monday, 14 April, has now come under intense scrutiny and criticism over the expensive eight-minute voyage. Amidst the tsunami of criticism from fans and other celebrities, comedian Heather McDonald has voiced her disapproval of the Blue Origin Space Mission, particularly targeting Gayle King on her podcast. During the conversation, she referred to Gayle King's friendship with Oprah and said that she got on this flight only because she is Oprah Winfrey's friend.

"She’s a Nepo friend.”

Gayle King, and fellow passengers Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez, research scientist Amanda Nguyen, Engineer Aisha Bowe, and film producer Kerianne Flynn, were part of the Blue Origin Space Mission, which itself was part of the New Shepard Program, launched by the company. The flight carrying the women was launched into the outer boundary of space from the West Texas launch facility of Jeff Bezos' company, as reported by Variety. Other celebrities like Olivia Munn, Emily Ratajkowski, Olivia Wilde, and many others harshly criticized the mission and the seeming purpose of the flight.

More about Heather McDonald's take on the Blue Origin Space Mission, as Gayle King defends herself

Gayle King had tried to defend the flight multiple times. During her appearance on CBS Mornings, she explained:

"There was nothing frivolous about what we did. So, you know, I’m very disappointed and very saddened by it. What Blue Origin wants to do is take the waste here and figure out a way to put it in space to make our planet cleaner. Jeff Bezos has so many ideas, and the people that are working there are really devoted and dedicated to making our planet a better place. That's number one."

On her podcast, "Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald," McDonald engaged in conversation with Josh Wolf, where they discussed trending topics on social media, one of them being Gayle King and the Blue Origin Space Mission.

Heather McDonald, who was a writer on Chelsea Handler's show "Chelsea Lately," commented on how people have come up with conspiracy theories regarding the Blue Origin Space Mission, alleging that Gayle King and the others on the flight did not actually go into space. She says:

"Then people get in there and of course the conspiracy theories.'They never really went up there'. Well, I think they did, I mean I think we can say they did. But the little pod lands, beaccshe it appears that somebody started to open the door and was told no, Jeff Bezos was supposed to open the door, and you knoww, have the moment. Cause of that people were like 'did this really happen.' I do think it really happened."

The comedian, who played a small role in the movie "White Chicks," further added:

"I do think they had this moment planned out. 'Let me be the one to open the foortvisbis my fiance in there. She invited all her best friends."

MacDonald added that this flight was nothing more than Lauren Sanchez, who has been in a relationship with Jeff Bezos since 2019, calling her closest friends to go on an adventure with her.

"This is another version of my best friend's f**king a guy with a jet. Who's available to go to Cabo this weekend?' So she [Lauren Sanchez] probably asked a bunch of people, Oprah didn't want to do it, Kim Kardashian did not want to do it. Oprah gave it to Gayle. And there was a couple others people who were there, but nonone knows their story, cause people got obsessed with Katy"

The comedian then reads out a summary of Gayle King's statement, where Gayle stressed that this flight had something of scientific importance. To this, comedian Josh Wolf added:

"They weren't exploring space, it was like an extended six flags ride. It was like they put them in a sling shot, shot them up and then came down."

He further doubles down on his statement in opposition to Gayle King, saying:

"Here's the thing, there was nothing scientific about it, there was no science, they were not learning new things. It was fuck people sh*t and this is not the right time for rich people shit."

Josh Wolf, then, expressed his dislike for Gayle King, adding that if the Good Morning host and others had not tried to push the narrative of scientific exploration regarding the mission, it would have been more accepted by people. He said:

"If they leaned away from astronaut, space, science, and say 'what a crazy opportunity that we get to do this. This is not lifting up women and science or space. It rich people, who knows the third riches person in the world and who sennds people to space"

Despite this relentless backlash, Gayle King is still continuing to defend the Blue Origin Space Mission, alleging that the criticism of the flight stems from prejudice against women.