Gayle King's Career Is In Shambles After Controversial Space Flight With Lauren Sanchez

One small step for Gayle King — one giant leap backward for Gayle King's career. When the CBS Mornings anchor signed on to be one of the celebs that got launched into space alongside Lauren Sanchez on the early April Blue Origin flight, she was likely looking forward to a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Instead, she got involved in a scandal from which her reputation might never recover. Her tanking reputation may be taking her career down with it. 

King has been at CBS for the past 13 years, but she may be on her way out. During her time with the Tiffany Network, she has landed a staggering salary of more than $10 million a year. The network reportedly no longer considers this a fair price, considering the struggling ratings. A source told the New York Post, "This could be Gayle's last year." Another source said, "Gayle sees the writing on the wall," noting that it would be a "miracle" if she ended up with the deal she's seeking. So, why are the ratings so low? Well, it's due, in part, to just how poorly received the Blue Origin trip was. Many folks aren't fans of Astronaut Gayle the way they were of Anchor Gayle, and from the sound of it, her colleagues are well aware of what her space trip has done to the network. 

It seems that while the stars aboard the now-infamous Blue Origin flight wanted their trip to be out of this world, the world viewed it as out-of-touch due to its apparent frivolousness and hefty pricetag. Katy Perry can't catch a break from TikTok hate about her journey to space, and many folks don't want to watch Gayle King on TV anymore. The ripple effects go beyond the 10-minute astronauts themselves. "People don't want to say it out loud in the office, but the entire space debacle really hurt us," a staff member from CBS' "60 Minutes" told The Daily Mail. "Gayle being part of that is not a good look for our brand."

The backlash the network is getting for King's day trip away from Earth is causing understandable friction with some of her coworkers. "I think a lot of people resent Gayle for that. I know I do," said the source.

Some folks are now simply associating CBS with King's space trip, and many network staffers who have remained Earthside are uncomfortable with it. A producer for the Early Show explained, "I almost feel like apologizing when I tell people where I work. I hate it here." King was noticeably and admittedly nervous for her space trip. However, it seems like she was probably nervous about all the wrong things; she should have been more concerned about how this would affect her reputation.