Katy Perry’s Blue Origin teammate talks about ‘depression’ since flight

Katy Perryanother Blue Origin Spaceflight crew member, Amanda Nguyenopens with dark moments.

The campaigner, who was part of the all-female flight crew alongside Perry and Gayle King, revealed she fell into a depressed state after the mission received backlash from the public.

Many high-profile celebrities even joined the public in harshly criticizing the mission for its waste.

Over the weekend, Nguyen shared a vulnerable post on Instagramspeaking about his feelings of depression amid the negative press caused by his space trip.

She shared that King called to check on her after the spaceflight and she couldn’t help but think the negative emotions were here to stay.

“When Gayle called me to check on me after the space flight, I told her that my depression could last for years,” she wrote.

Nguyen said the incident was a “dream turned nightmare” because she felt like everything she had worked hard for as a scientist and activist was just “buried under an avalanche of misogyny.”

​Without holding back, the 34-year-old social entrepreneur pointed out that, given the high level of public attention, the negative press he was receiving had become almost too much for her to handle. In his words:

“The volume of coverage was unprecedented. With social media and a 24/7 news cycle, it surpassed coverage of even the most historic spaceflights. On this scale, even a small fraction of negativity becomes staggering. It amounts to billions of hostile impressions – an assault that no human brain has evolved to endure.”

​As a result, Nguyen confined herself within the four walls of her home, as she “didn’t leave Texas for a week, unable to get out of bed.”

Even when a Blue Origin staff member called to check on her, she had to hang up on him due to the onslaught of emotions still tormenting her.​

Although he felt depressed, Nguyen tried to think about the positive side of the incident. She noted that the spotlight on her had brought attention to her breast cancer research and women’s health as a whole, for which she was “deeply grateful.”

“The breast cancer research I conducted was featured in the media, bringing attention to women’s health. The flight opened the door for me to speak to world leaders and advance my fight for the rights of rape survivors in an unprecedented way,” she wrote.

Now, months after the dust has settled, the civil rights activist happily shares that the depressive “fog of grief” has begun to lift.

She noted that her friends and love for the community helped bring her out of obscurity and thanked the people around her for the kind interactions they had with her.

Nguyen’s heartfelt message comes about ten months after announcing plans to join Katy Perry, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe and Lauren Sanchez on an all-female crew for the Blue Origin space mission.

When the announcement was made, the statement said Perry was “honored” to be part of the female crew and hoped the mission would encourage her daughter and other women around the world.

Sanchez also shared her excitement for the mission, while King revealed she was both “terrified and excited.”

Sanchez, King, Nguyen and other members of the all-female crew took off on April 14, during which they completed an 11-minute spaceflight. However, after returning to earth, the women faced backlash from the public, including high-profile figures such as Emily Ratajkowski.

According to The explosionthe model shared a video on TikTok saying the mission was “beyond parody.” She criticized the crew for pretending to care about Mother Earth, but continuing to board a spaceship built and paid for by a company that is single-handedly destroying the planet.