Katy Perry’s extraterrestrial pursuits ought to come as no shock to these of us who could or could not have been diehard followers of the pop star when “E.T.” (that includes the artist previously often called Kanye West) reached Earth in 2011.
Foreshadowing her minutes-long Blue Origin voyage into house this morning, April 14, Perry’s over-a-decade-old music video for “E.T.” imagined the musician floating in house, coated in thick white basis and a helical headdress.
This morning, nevertheless, Perry wore a form-fitted blue jumpsuit, matching 5 different high-profile house vacationers, together with tv host Gayle King, Jeff Bezos’s fiancé Lauren Sánchez, rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, and activist Amanda Nguyen. Unfolding over a comically transient 11 minutes in a Tic-Tac mint-shaped vessel owned by Bezos’s firm Blue Origin (keep in mind these memes?), Perry’s real-life journey to house flopped within the public eye as onerous as her seventh studio album 143 (2024).
I imply, this isn’t rocket science. (screenshot by way of X)
Katy was on aux. (screenshot by way of X)
Memers and opinion columnists unleashed a torrent of humorous criticism at Perry nearly immediately after the staff’s touchdown. Perry, greater than the others, appears to signify a burgeoning billionaire-funded interstellar tourism motion that abandons the Twentieth-century pretense of analysis and innovation and as an alternative brazenly embraces the whims and needs of the wealthy and well-known.
However in a press convention practically 4 occasions longer than the journey, the ladies defended the journey as a heart-opening expertise and advocated, albeit abstractly, for the care of planet Earth.
That is actual footage, I confirmed. (screenshot by way of Bluesky)
The spectacle comes days after the Guardian obtained paperwork revealing the Trump administration’s plans to intestine funding for the Nationwide Aeronautics and Area Administration (NASA), particularly concentrating on local weather science-related tasks.
Blue Origin declined to speak in confidence to CNN simply how a lot the house journey value, however mentioned that some within the group of all-female passengers paid for his or her seats, and others have been provided a free journey.
After kissing the bottom upon touchdown, Perry informed reporters that she sang Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” at zero gravity, which memers joked defined the brevity of the journey. As anticipated, Perry confirmed she would write a track in regards to the expertise, which nobody requested for.
Besides she continues to be on the mat. (screenshot by way of X)
Perry additionally took the sans-gravity alternative to announce the setlist for her upcoming world “Lifetimes” tour. That PR stunt additionally flopped when followers realized that the listing she held up on a tiny paper butterfly was illegible.
When she landed, Perry mentioned she’d wished to “model courage and worthiness and fearlessness,” and in an earlier interview with the Related Press final week, the web cringed because the pop star mentioned she had been excited to “learn more about STEM and just the math about what it takes to accomplish this type of thing.”
We have been anticipating a bit extra. (screenshot by way of X)
Not solely have been the passengers of Blue Origin’s flight celebrities, however on the bottom, Oprah Winfrey and a number of the Kardashians commemorated the flight. Oprah regarded as much as the sky from the launch web site with a saccharine gaze, palms to her face; as some customers on-line identified, the potential of a brand new Oprah meme may be one of the best factor to come back out of this entire factor.
ORPAH! It isn’t that deep! (screenshot by way of X)
As Guardian opinion author Zoe Williams put it, “It’s framed as a feminist statement, and I guess we’re supposed to rejoice that space is no longer pale, male and stale.”
“But something about the randomness of the guest list, coupled with the fact that they all have such nice hair, just … I don’t know … gives an impression of the gender that’s a bit incomplete,” Williams wrote.
Hillary! What are you doing in Area? (screenshot by way of X)
Katy Perry’s resolution to pop into house appears to have stemmed extra from a want to safe the “highest highs” than an obligation to avoid wasting the world. Some self-awareness would have been good. Maybe she took her personal lyrics a bit too significantly:
’Trigger, child, you’re a firework … Make ’em go, “Oh, oh, oh”As you shoot throughout the sky …
Man, I believed she was going to be there for not less than a pair hours. (screenshot by way of Bluesky)
And I belong to all three classes. (screenshot by way of Bluesky)
And let’s hope it’s longer than her incoming track. (screenshot by way of X) 
Child, you’re a firework! (screenshot by way of X)
The outfits have been fairly good, although. (screenshot by way of X)
A easy commentary. (screenshot by way of X)
I want they’d employed this stylist for at the moment’s launch. (screenshot by way of Bluesky)
Get me her publicist! (screenshot by way of X)
Okay, Jessie J. (screenshot by way of X)
