(NewsNation) — Gayle King faced scrutiny last week after she boarded the Blue Origin “space flight” — but now she’s facing something even worse: Cratering viewership.
The Monday before the flight, CBS Morning had an unbelievable 3.9 million viewers with 593,000 in the coveted youth demo. But after the flight, which was widely mocked by not just celebrities and late-night hosts, but also regular people on social media, viewers fled.
The following three days, the numbers cratered to an average of 1.9 million people (a 51% loss) and the demo fell to 339,000 (a 43% loss).
By Monday (April 21) — just a week after the flight, the demo fell even further to 311,000 (total numbers stayed at 1.9 million — the bottom of the morning shows).
Gayle King accuses critics of sexism
One industry insider told me, “This stunt should have never been greenlit by CBS News to begin with —Gayle tries to be this relatable morning show anchor who claims she’s down to earth and then not only takes this gazillion-dollar flight but then attacks people for getting mad at her? It’s a complete crock.”
King was noticeably tetchy when the criticisms started rolling in last week.
She even accused critics of sexism — although one fails to understand how her trip did anything except inspire young girls to befriend billionaires’ fiancées, and told Entertainment Tonight: “Have you been?” King asked while scolding critics.
This image provided by Blue Origin shows from left: Jeff Bezos, Kerianne Flynn, Katy Perry, Lauren Sanchez, Aisha Bowe, Gayle King, Amanda Nguyen, Sarah Knights, director of Blue Origin’s astronaut office, and Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp. (Blue Origin via AP) 
This image provided by Blue Origin shows, first row, seated, from left: Lauren Sanchez and Kerianne Flynn and standing in back from left: Amanda Nguyen, Katy Perry, Gayle King and Aisha Bowe in West Texas. (Blue Origin via AP) 
This combination of 2025 file photos shows, from left, Lauren Sanchez, Katy Perry and Gayle King. (Photos by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) 
This combination of photos shows Gayle King, from left, Lauren Sanchez and Katy Perry. (AP Photo) 
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 05: Gayle King attends the 11th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Barker Hangar on April 05, 2025 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Craig T Fruchtman/Getty Images)
(Social media answers ranged from, “No Gayle, I’m trying to buy eggs,” to “Gayle, if I had that money to go I’d pay off the mortgage on my house.”)
“It was the ultimate leftist thing to do in a time of great insecurity in the country,” the insider added. “It was just stupid.”
Katy Perry also facing backlash, struggling to sell tour tickets
My insider isn’t the only one saying this.
In Oliver Darcy’s media column this week, he described a luncheon at Michaels with Howard Stringer, the former head of Sony; Richard Cohen, the retired Washington Post columnist; and Ken Auletta, the veteran New Yorker media reporter.
As Darcy noted: “I’m told that Gayle King’s trip to space aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin flight, a move greenlit by CBS News that has raised more than a few eyebrows across the industry, was also a topic of conversation. At the table, the consensus wasn’t exactly glowing.”
Maybe AdWeek — which touted the headline “Gayle King’s Space Odyssey Rockets CBS Mornings to Double Digit Gains” should check the math… or the aftermath.
Meanwhile, Katy Perry is still struggling to sell tickets to her “Lifetimes” tour despite promoting it during the 11-minute space tourism journey by holding up the set list (printed on a butterfly) to the camera (instead of, you know, looking outside the window at Earth).
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