Gayle King is not pleased with those calling her Blue Origin trip a ‘space ride.’

‘They call it a ride, which I find very irritating because they never say men went for a ride,’ King, 70, said on Tuesday, a day after she her 11-minute, all-woman trip – which has been slammed as a frivolous publicity campaign for Jeff Bezos‘ space company.

Responding to accusations that the suborbital flight had no real scientific purpose, King spoke with fellow crewmate, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe on CBS Mornings. 

‘There’s so many things that have been developed in space that benefit Earth… from pharmaceuticals to, like, research on agriculture,’ Bowe said.

‘And, you know, I paused there because we did research and it was emotional… Part of what I accomplished in my flight was I was looking at the future of being able to produce crops that can withstand harsh environments so we can look at food security here on Earth, and simultaneously, we also were able to certify that device so more people could do research on New Shepard.’

It’s unclear what specific research Bowe conducted, but footage of the flight showed the all-female crew floating, marveling at the view, and holding personal items.

Bowe held a small Bahamas flag and pop star Katy Perry carried a daisy and a list of the setlist of her upcoming tour while shrieking the lyrics to Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World.’ 

King had previously clapped back at those calling the space flight a ‘ride,’ saying ‘you have never said to a [male] astronaut, “What a ride.” [Don’t] call it a ride.’

She added: ‘It’s called a flight or a journey. A ride implies it’s something frivolous or light hearted. There’s nothing frivolous about what we did.’ 

The women’s quick trip to space was not exactly well-received, with a slew of stars publicly slamming it, including Emily Ratajkowski, Olivia Wilde, Olivia Munn, and Amy Schumer.

‘That space mission this morning? That’s end time s**t. Like, this is beyond parody,’ Ratajkowski said in a TikTok video. 

‘That you care about Mother Earth and it’s about Mother Earth, and you’re going up in a spaceship that is built and paid for by a company that’s singlehandedly destroying the planet?’ she went on. 

Ratajkowski continued, wondering about the purpose of the quick space journey. ‘Look at the state of the world and think about how many resources went into putting these women into space. For what? What was the marketing there?’ 

‘This is what bothers me, I’ve certainly read some of the stuff being said online and it’s coming from people I know, people I consider friends,’ King said. 

‘Space is not an either/or … Just because you do something in space doesn’t mean you’re taking anything away from Earth.’

The star also insisted that Blue Origin is fiercely dedicated to ‘make the planet cleaner.’

It’s still unclear who – if anyone – footed the bill for the expedition, with a non-celebrity facing a $300,000 fare to make the same trip. 

Bezos certainly got huge exposure for his fledgling space exploration company and was seen opening the capsule door to welcome his friends back to Earth.

Breathtaking footage showed King and other celebrities including Lauren Sanchez and Katy Perry screaming while weightless and peering into the vast emptiness of space.

The flight itself lasted just 11 minutes, but there was plenty of build-up to blast-off and screaming excitement after the A-List crew touched back down in West Texas, with CBS alumnus Oprah Winfrey among those waiting to greet the crew.

A fleet of Rivian cars – whose largest shareholder is Bezos’ company Amazon – helped ferry the astronauts to their spacecraft.

It is unclear if Bezos personally authorized a freebie for his fiancée Sanchez and her friends.

But Tuesday’s trip bought Blue Origin the type of free coverage equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars of advertising spending.

Many of the ultra-rich will now likely be lining up to pay for their own flight into space after viewing the stunning footage.

Bezos will also have caught the eye of the federal government, whose ultra-lucrative space exploration contracts to SpaceX owner Elon Musk have helped make him the richest man in the world.  

Ex-CNN media analyst Oliver Darcy in February aired curiosity about who green-lighted King’s part in the project, writing how her seemingly free ride into space ‘seem(s) like a conflict of interest’ in his Status newsletter.

He and others pointed out CBS News’s strict policies against anchors accepting high-priced handouts for ethical reasons – a dynamic seemingly absent from statements issued by CBS since, before the network aired the Texas-based mission for all to see.

The network extensively interviewed Gayle about the mission as well, covering her training, inventory, and the rocket’s technology all the way until its launch Monday.