VAN HORN, TEXAS: Oprah Winfrey was trolled for “fake crying” as she got emotional while watching her best friend Gayle King leave for space in billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket on Monday, April 14.
The 71-year-old TV personality was among the attendees at the launch site outside El Paso, as an all-female flight crew took off in the rocket for a brief trip to the edge of space, People reported.
Oprah Winfrey cries as she watches Gayle King leave for space in Blue Origin flight
In a clip that has gone viral on social media, Oprah Winfrey was seen removing her sunglasses and getting emotional as her 70-year-old best friend took off on the space journey.
Notably, King was joined on the New Shepard rocket by five others, including singer Katy Perry, Bezos’ fiancee Lauren Sanchez, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics research scientist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn, per the outlet.
At the launch site, Winfrey told reporters that the trip was monumental for King due to her fear of flying, the Daily Mail reported.
She said, “I’ve never been more proud. This is bigger than just going to space for (Gayle). Any time we’re on a flight, she’s in someone’s lap if there’s the slightest bit of turbulence.”
Oprah Winfrey was seen crying after the Blue Origin flight left for space (Blue Origin/YouTube)
“She has real, real, real anxiety flying. This is overcoming a wall of fear, a barrier, I think it’s gonna be cathartic for her,” Winfrey added.
Interestingly, just days before the trip, King took a sharp swipe at Bezos, revealing that she had questioned some of his recent headline-making decisions.
During a conversation with ‘CBS Mornings’ colleague Vlad Duthiers last week, King was asked what she would say to fierce critics who might see the flight as an ad for Bezos and his company.
She said, “Listen, it is troubling for me too. There have been some questions and some decisions that he has made that I’ve actually gone, ‘Huh?'”
“But I think in this particular case, I think this is so much bigger than one man and one company,” King continued.
She added, “I’ve chosen to separate the two. It’s not a zero-sum game. You can do this one the one hand, and this on the other hand. And both things can be true.”