UFC's Sean Strickland calls Blue Origin crew 'mentally stunted famous women' as hordes of backlash pours in over event

Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland had choice words for the women who were selected by Jeff Bezos' fiancée to fly to the edge of outer space.

The New Shepard program launched by Bezos' Blue Origin featured an all-female crew that consisted of singer Katy Perry, CBS host Gayle King, activist Amanda Nguyen, scientist Aisha Bowe, filmmaker Kerianne Flynn, and Bezos' fiancée, Lauren Sanchez.

Heralded as an all-time event to advance space exploration for women, the celebrity crew took an 11-minute trip 62 miles above Earth to the Karman line, the official boundary of space.

Upon the flight's return, Perry and others were mocked for their over-the-top dramatics, which included Perry kissing the ground and raising a daisy to the sky to signal to her daughter of the same name. Perry also told reporters she felt "super connected to life" and "so connected to love."

Perry not only sang "What a Wonderful World" while suspended in space, but she took the opportunity to show the set list for an upcoming tour on one of the spacecraft's cameras.

Backlash from the publicity stunt has been swift and strong, including from Strickland, who did not hold back when it came to criticizing Perry's actions.

"Yall just realizing the girl you love for writing a song 'I kissed a girl and liked it' is a f**king idiot lmao," Strickland wrote on his X page. "What do you expect a group of mentally stunted famous women are going to do in space?"

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While the harsh words may be expected from Strickland at this point, he was by far not the only celebrity to mock the situation. Female celebrities especially did not care for the pageantry of the ordeal, with several criticizing the idea of the event being a historical accomplishment for women.

Actresses Olivia Wilde and Olivia Munn both took shots at the female crew for their lack of self-awareness.

"Is it historic that you guys are going on a ride? I think it’s a bit gluttonous," Munn said in an interview.

"Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess," Wilde wrote.

Model Emily Ratajkowski called the event "beyond parody" and said she was "disgusted, literally, I am disgusted."

Singer Camila Cabello specifically mocked Perry for promoting her tour on the all-important space trip and posted a slow-motion parody video of her own tour dates. The video was captioned, "didn't have the budget to fly to space to promote my tour dates so I made this TikTok instead."

The space flight was indeed meant to serve as a groundbreaking event to showcase the importance of women in space. Instead, it has been received as a shameless promotion of the lives of wealthy women who were able to take an ultra-exclusive trip, which in 2025 equates to outer space.

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