The April Fall of Katy Perry
On April 14, 2025, Katy Perry was launched into space on the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. It was an all-female flight that was a total of eleven minutes long. Perry joined five other women: Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen and Kerianne Flynn. The trip itself has faced backlash on all levels.
The trip was supposed to be an event about modern feminism, however, it was seen publicly as just a bunch of celebrities wasting their money. Most celebrities on the trip have faced online criticism, mainly Perry and Sánchez. Lauren Sánchez is the fiancée of Jeff Bezos, the owner of Blue Origin and founder/CEO of Amazon. Sanchez was the first one off the ship, and Bezos was waiting for her when they landed. When she reflected on the trip and looking down at the Earth, she says, “You look at this, and you’re like, ‘We’re all in this together.’”
Up in the rocket, Perry held up a piece of paper, cut in the shape of a butterfly, to a camera. The paper apparently had her new setlist written on it, however, it was too small for anyone to see. Because people couldn’t see the new songs, no one understood why she lifted it up to the camera. Since returning, Perry has faced incredible backlash online, especially since she kissed the ground when she returned.
Backlash has come from many different sources, with celebrities, and even Wendy’s, the fast-food chain, commenting on the trip. Wendy’s posted an image of Perry returning from the trip, and had the caption, “Can we send her back?” The restaurant also commented on the image of Perry kissing the ground, saying, “I kissed the ground, and I liked it,” a joke on her hit song, I Kissed A Girl.
Perry’s Lifetimes Tour has also been horribly ridiculed in the media. People are criticizing her for not loudly singing, running out of breath, and barely moving on stage. Perry responded with the fact that the altitude made it harder to sing, yet she serenaded her fellow members on the ship in space. She has responded to other media comments, about both the tour and space trip, claiming, “When the ‘online’ world tries to make me a human Piñata, I take it with grace and send them love, cause I know so many people are hurting in so many ways and the internet is very much so a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed.”
The fallout of the space trip has had horrendous effects on Perry’s career and the success of her current music and tour. The ticket sales of the tour have been slow, with many empty seats in the audience, and her newly released music hasn’t gotten as much notice as some of her past songs. So we are all left wondering, will Katy Perry’s social caché ever recover from her short trip to the stratosphere?