In early April, I was looking at a beautiful Elle magazine spread featuring the six women who were set to crew the all-female Blue Origin flight into space. There was Katy Perry, Lauren Sánchez, Gayle King — and then my jaw dropped. There was my friend Aisha Bowe, surrounded by celebrities.

Bowe and I have known each other for nearly a decade. She’s a former NASA aerospace engineer and an entrepreneur. I always knew it was her dream to go to space. I figured she was managing a lot, so I held off on reaching out. I texted her a couple of days after the April 14 flight, asking if she was still basking in the glow. I was stunned by her response.

I learned then that Bowe had been dealing with a massive and swift backlash and lots of online hate — much of it racist and sexist. She understood some of the criticism, but she was shocked that so much of it was directed at her.

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Bowe’s story isn’t just a familiar lesson in how the internet can tear people down, particularly Black women struck by sudden celebrity.

It is also about how people can become unwitting symbols of a particular political moment in a way that strips them of the ability to make meaning out of their own story. In Bowe’s case, her flight became a flash point for a torrent of anger from the political left and from communities of color directed at billionaires associated with the Trump administration. That includes Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, who owns Blue Origin, and who sat in a crowd of tech moguls at the inauguration after making a large donation through Amazon.

Bowe agreed to sit down with me for an episode of Post Reports, The Post’s flagship daily news podcast. And she talked about the challenge of both acknowledging the widespread anger but also wresting one’s own storyline — and sanity — from the haters. And she reflected on how the most beautiful moment of one’s life can also be the most terrible.

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Here are some excerpts from our conversation. You can hear more here or by searching for “Post Reports” wherever you listen to podcasts.

A lot of the people on that flight didn’t have a background in rocket science. You’re an aerospace engineer. When did you first become interested in space travel?

As a kid, I was always interested in space. It was exciting. As somebody who grew up in an environment where I wasn’t sure what it was that I wanted to become, I often used books as my escape. Let’s just say I was an awkward child. I was not super involved in a lot of things because my parents were not affluent. And you know when you’re younger and you really start to compare what you have versus what other people have, you can further retreat into worlds of your own making. And so I read a lot of books. And I would read sci-fi and I would dream about escaping the life that I was living when I was younger. I was a high school student who was floundering. I was someone who sought guidance from a guidance counselor. And in that moment in high school, I was told “you should study cosmetology.”

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And that was really painful for me, because I did not understand why society required that I knew what it was that I wanted to be before I knew who I was. It wasn’t until I was in community college that I actually decided that space might be a possibility. And it wasn’t because I thought it was a probability, it was me defying the odds. I think that sometimes dreams can be a radical form of protest. And my dream was that I wanted to overcome the circumstances that I was in. I decided that the only thing I could control were my dreams. And my dream was that I would go to space.

On why she wanted to raise the money to go to space with Blue Origin:

I wanted to demonstrate that if you can raise the money to be in a seat, that access and opportunity are available for more people in the future because they can emulate the path that I took. In the history of space, less than 10 black women have gone as high as the Kármán line. And so when I thought about this, my challenge was not just visibility. It was that, how could I create a model that other people can follow, because if Aisha Bowe can raise the money for her seat, and she’s not a celebrity, and she is not somebody who has a rich uncle or a rich auntie, then what can the next person do with that? I’m also not a privately funded nonprofit. And so I put together a strategy that allowed me to do a number of things. I traveled around and I gave keynotes, and in lieu of payment I accepted funding for my seat. I worked with institutions who wanted to conduct research who understand what some of the ticket prices look like to fly on other missions, and they came in and they wanted to back that.

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And you did research with HBCUs, right?

Absolutely. It was really important to me because when I was working at NASA, I had the opportunity to come across laboratories that were doing world-class astrobotany research. Plants in space. And what I wanted to do was take the opportunity to conduct research in microgravity, which is very valuable.

On what the flight was like:

On the launch day, I was so present that day that I felt every single moment of the flight, from when the seat belt sign was off and we were free to move about the cabin, to gently seeing the Earth rotate outside the window. And some say, oh well, that seems like a really short period of time. I will say when you’re traveling at more than a couple thousand miles per hour, 11 minutes is enough.

Now I’ve read that every astronaut who goes to space takes a special object up with them and you test whether that object floats in zero gravity. What was your object?

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For me, the object that I took was the Bahamas flag patch. And the reason for this is the New Shepard vehicle follows a trajectory that mimics the 1961 NASA flight of Alan Shepard. Most people know where the rocket took off, but they do not think about where it landed. It landed in Grand Bahama. My family is from the Bahamas, and I, over the last decade, have worked to bring space to the Bahamas. I also wanted to nod to my heritage and the idea that I’m the product of a father who came to the United States so that he could one day potentially work at NASA. He was unable to fulfill that dream, but I was able to do that and also bring my and that piece of history to the world stage. Unfortunately, we lost my father in January. However, my grandfather was able to attend, having been born 92 years ago to take a flight to come see me go to space was not only a moving moment, but it was one where I felt as though I was in alignment with everything I’d hope to be.

On the criticism she’s gotten:

Katy Perry felt ‘battered and bruised’ by backlash

30 April 2025 Share Save Steven McIntosh Entertainment reporter Share Save

EPA Katy Perry said the “online world” had tried to make her a “human Piñata”

Singer Katy Perry has admitted feeling “battered and bruised” by the backlash following her recent space trip, but reassured fans she is OK and would “keep looking to the light”. Writing two weeks after the much-derided Blue Origin voyage, which saw her take an 11-minute flight with five other women, the US star said the “online world” had tried to make her a “human Piñata”. Her comments came after fans paid for a billboard in New York to show their support for her ahead of her world tour. Responding to a fan account that posted a video of the billboard, Perry said she was “so grateful” for her fans, adding they were “in this beautiful and wild journey together”.

Watch: All-women crew floats inside space capsule over Earth

Perry has been one of pop’s most successful singers over the past two decades, but the narrative around her has become more negative in the past year. A poorly received album was accompanied by a lead single, Woman’s World, which had a music video which many viewed as regressive. She was then criticised for her part in Jeff Bezos’s all-female Blue Origin space flight, during which she sang Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World to her fellow passengers, and held up the setlist for her new tour to an in-flight camera. Some commentators said it was “tone deaf” for celebrities to be taking part in such a fleeting and expensive trip at a time of economic struggle. However, singer Lily Allen apologised this week for “being mean” about Perry, saying that although she disagreed with the flight, there was no need to join the “pile on” against the singer.

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Some fans showed their support for Perry by clubbing together to pay for a digital billboard message in New York’s Times Square for 24 hours. A Brazillian fan account on Instagram explained fans had done it to “remind her that she is never alone; our love for her is boundless, unwavering, and eternal”. “We’re so proud of you and your magical journey and we love you to the moon and back. “Know that you are safe, seen and celebrated. We’ll see you around the world, this is just the beginning.”

‘Unhinged and unhealed’ internet

Perry left a comment expressing her gratitude, telling fans: “I love you guys and have grown up together with you and am so excited to see you all over the world this year! “Please know I am OK, I have done a lot [of] work around knowing who I am, what is real and what is important to me.” She said she is “not perfect”, but rather on a “human journey playing the game of life with an audience of many and sometimes I fall”. “But I get back up and go on and continue to play the game and somehow through my battered and bruised adventure I keep looking to the light and in that light a new level unlocks.” She added: “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 singer, whose hits include Roar, Firework and I Kissed A Girl, has just started a world tour, which will run until December and visit the US, Canada, South America, Canada, Europe and the United Arab Emirates. Perry said she was looking forward to “seeing your faces every night, singing in unison, reading your notes, feeling your warmth”.

EPA Katy Perry (second left) took part in Blue Origin’s all-female space mission earlier this month

Katy Perry has seemingly responded to the backlash surrounding her new tour, music and the 11-minute Blue Origin space flight last month, writing that she has felt “battered and bruised” in recent moments.

On 14 April, the all-female space crew, including singer Katy Perry, boarded the Blue Origin New Shepard space flight, which belongs to billionaire and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Also on board were TV presenter Gayle King and Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sanchez. Joining them were NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, activist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

The 11-minute space flight was criticised for being nothing more than an “out of touch”, “indulgent” joyride, with model and author Emily Ratajkowski weighing in on the debate about the sustainability of the mission.

But her new music era has failed to take off to similar heights. Perry’s recent single “Woman’s World” was criticised for its on-the-nose feminist lyrics and for standing by her decision to have Dr. Luke credited as a producer.

Addressing how “the ‘online’ world tries to make me a human Piñata”, she commented beneath a post from Katy Perry Brasil after fans purchased a billboard to promote her Lifetimes Tour.

The public criticised the sustainability of the 11-minute space flight. (Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

She did not directly address the space mission, but reassured her fans that she is “ok” in spite of the discourse, adding, “I have done a lot work around knowing who I am, what is real and what is important to me.”

Perry explained, “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 singer added that she focuses on “what’s real” to keep herself grounded, which includes “seeing your faces every night, singing in unison, reading your notes, feeling your warmth. I find people to lock eyes and sing with, and I know we are healing each other in a small way when I get to do that”.

“I’m on a human journey playing the game of life with an audience of many, and sometimes I fall, but… I get back up and go on and continue to play the game, and somehow through my battered and bruised adventure, I keep looking to the light, and in that light a new level UNLOCKS,” she concluded.

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Lily Allen issues an apology

Lily, 39, issued an apology on Monday during an episode of her Miss Me? Podcast. After Lily’s cohost Miquita Oliver mentioned Meghan Markle, the singer elaborated on the recent drama, reports US Magazine.

The apology came after Lily labelled the flight “out of touch” amid global economic struggles, criticising Katy and her fellow female passengers for taking part in the trip.

She said, “Because we’re talking about a very famous female person who’s a bit divisive, I would actually like to apologise for being mean about Katy Perry last week. There was actually no need for me to bring her name into it, and it was my own internalized misogyny.”

Lily added, “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and it was just completely unnecessary to pile on with her. I do disagree with what it was that they did, but she wasn’t the only person that did it. She was possibly the most famous and the one that divides people the most. There was something in me that decided to choose her as the person that should… Anyway, I just, I’m really sorry. I would have been hurt if it had been me and someone in my industry used me and my name. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Katy Perry, I know you don’t listen to the show, but yeah, sorry.”

Katy Perry’s trip to space gets slammed

Katy grabbed headlines for her all-female Blue Origin space mission that took place on April 14. The singer joined Lauren Sanchez, television host Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn, NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe and civil rights activist and research scientist Amanda Nguyen for an 11-minute trip to space.

However, several celebrities slammed the move and called it tasteless. “I just think it’s so out of touch. We’re on the brink of recession, people are really f–king struggling to make ends meet and get food on their table,” Lily said in the April 17 episode. Katy for her part, has remained largely tight-lipped about the backlash.

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April 29, 2025: Lily Allen issued a heartfelt apology to Katy Perry on Monday during an episode of her Miss Me? podcast. The apology came after Allen’s previous comments about the all-female Blue Origin space flight, which included Perry as one of its passengers.

In her earlier remarks, Allen had criticized the space mission as “out of touch” amid global economic struggles, focusing her comments on Perry and other female participants. She acknowledged that her criticism was influenced by her “own internalized misogyny,” expressing regret for singling out Perry.

“Because we’re talking about a very famous female person who’s a bit divisive, I would actually like to apologize for being mean about Katy Perry last week,” Allen said during the podcast. “There was actually no need for me to bring her name into it, and it was my own internalized misogyny.”

Allen elaborated, saying, “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and it was just completely unnecessary to pile on with her. I do disagree with what it was that they did, but she wasn’t the only person that did it. She was possibly the most famous and the one that divides people the most. There was something in me that decided to choose her as the person that should… Anyway, I just, I’m really sorry. I would have been hurt if it had been me and someone in my industry used me and my name. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Katy Perry, I know you don’t listen to the show, but yeah, sorry.”

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The apology follows the backlash Perry received for her participation in the all-female Blue Origin space mission, which launched on April 14. Perry joined several prominent women, including television host Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynn, NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen for the 11-minute trip to space.

Despite the backlash from some celebrities and commentators, Perry has remained largely silent on the matter.