Gayle King and her show, “CBS Mornings,” have been going pretty hard lately on promoting her upcoming participation in an “all-female” flight into space next month with Jeff Bezos’s fiancee Lauren Sanchez, aboard one of the billionaire’s Blue Origin rocket ships.
But King’s participation is being criticized by a number of “CBS Mornings” fans, as well as journalists, who question the ethics and integrity of King, and of CBS, as she and the network go along with what these critics say is a “PR stunt” on behalf of “oligarch” Bezos, his companies and his public image.
“I am so disappointed that you’re participating in this PR stunt by an oligarch,” one person said on an Instagram post shared by King late last month. “Where’s your integrity? How are we the public to trust you or CBS to report on Bezos’ gutting WaPo knowing he gave you a ride to space?”
“Your very own Gayle King is supporting a man shutting down free speech and a free press,” said another person, while another yet another pointed out: “You know what he stands for. That you are willingly participating is mind boggling and deeply disappointing.”
Critics say that Bezos is not some neutral, nonpartisan business leader offering cool rides into space. The billionaire owner of Amazon, the Washington Post and Blue Origin has very much inserted himself into the current political discourse and become a polarizing national public figure. He also needs to promote his Blue Origin space technology business.
Bezos first tried to influence public opinion by killing the Post’s ready-to-publish endorsement of Kamala Harris before the Nov. 5 election. Since then, he has initiated a rightward tilt of the newspaper’s once vaunted opinion section, in what departing Post columnist Ruth Marcus said is a bid “to cozy up to” and appease the new president by suppressing writers’ viewpoints.
Critics also note that Bezos has been labeled by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, and many others on the left as one of America’s new ruling class of oligarchs. In a speech on the Senate floor, Sanders talked about how Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and tech moguls view themselves as “modern-day kings” who have embraced Trump’s election and even his move toward “authoritarianism” because it benefits their ability to make more money and wield cultural influence. Sanders and others also excoriated Bezos and Sanchez’s participation in Trump’s inauguration, creating what Marcus called “a spectacle” of tycoons “arrayed like so many trophies behind the triumphant new president.”
Amid all these concerns about Bezos, the “oligarchy” and his “gutting” of the Post, King has appeared in multiple segments on “CBS Mornings” to promote Bezos’s Blue Origin, most recently on Thursday, when she laughed and chit-chatted with 94-year-old “Star Trek” actor William Shatner about his 2021 ride on a Bezos rocket, People reported.
King also has posted multiple social media messages, including Friday, to promote her flight into space, which is scheduled to take place April 14. She’ll be riding with Sanchez, as well as with Sanchez’s good friend, singer Katy Perry, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe and several other women.
It’s not known whether Bezos is hosting King’s ride, with NBC reporting that tickets for the 11-minute Blue Origin journeys typically cost in the six figures. If CBS paid for King’s ticket, one still has to wonder about the news value of an event that is being criticized as a publicity stunt for a controversial public figure.
If Bezos is hosting King, former CNN media analyst Oliver Darcy wrote on his Status Substack that this “freebie” ride would appear to be “a conflict of interest.” Darcy noted that CBS News has strict policies against anchors accepting “bribes, gifts and freebies,” so as to avoid a potential or perceived conflict of interest.
The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics also says that journalists should strive to act independently by “avoiding conflicts of interest, real or perceived,” and by refusing “gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment.” They also should avoid “political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality or may damage credibility.”
Darcy asked who at CBS News gave a green light to King’s trip. Representatives at CBS News and CBS Mornings did not respond to an email request from this news organization seeking comment on King’s space voyage or the decision-making behind it.
But viewers of “CBS Mornings” and self-described King fans had plenty to say on Instagram in late February. They accused King of showing self-interest, lack of concern about press freedom and seeming complicity in Bezos and Sanchez’s efforts to garner positive publicity.
“I always stuck with ‘CBS Mornings’ but ‘GMA’ here I come,” a now-former King fan said. “That you and the other participants can help this Trump supporter billionaire fulfill his dreams while he’s destroying the dreams of the working class is outrageous!”
“This is beyond disappointing,” another person said. “As a journalist, you would think Gayle would be concerned with the decisions Bezos has made with the Washington Post.”
This commenter also said that King is in a position to make a difference and stand on principle but instead is “showing what matters most and it has nothing to do with those of us that have been supportive of her throughout her career. Another one bites the dust…bye Felicia.”
“How tone-deaf are you?” asked another person. “Thanks for empowering billionaires and MAGA bull —- yet again. And no matter how you spin it, shame on you.”
Someone else said they were disappointed but not surprised by King’s actions: “This is who Gayle King is Just another celebrity journalist that can be bought. Nothing new to see here.”