A group of media all-stars have reportedly slammed CBS star Gayle King’s recent trip to space.  

The remarks were made during a lunch between Warner Bros. boss David Zaslav, former Sony chief Howard Stringer, retired Washington Post writer Richard Cohen, and New Yorker vet Ken Auletta at Michael’s in Manhattan, Status reported.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin flight was a topic of discussion after a posse of female stars including King were blasted into space, with CBS yet to disclose who paid for the jaunt.

The consensus between the four ‘wasn’t exactly glowing’, CNN’s old media reporter Oliver Darcy wrote – before detailing other facets of the talks learned from those familiar.

Coincidentally, there was also talk at the table about about attempts to settle a Donald Trump lawsuit against King’s network CBS over a heavily edited ’60 Minutes’ interview – during which Paramount heiress Shari Redstone was mentioned specifically.

Skydance – a media firm backed by billionaire software scion David Ellison – has spent the past several months trying to acquire Paramount for the price-tag of $8billion, and the deal requires approval from Trump’s FCC boss Brendan Carr.  

Meanwhile, the move greenlit by CBS News in regards to King’s part in the Blue Origin flight  continues to raise questions across the industry – like whether it went against her high-profile employer’s rules about accepting gifts for good coverage.

CBS News has strict policies against anchors accepting handouts for ethical reasons – a stipulation not mentioned in any of the station’s statements since. 

A group of media all-stars have reportedly slammed Gayle King ’s recent trip to space, according to a new report

The remarks were made during a meet between Warner Bros. boss David Zaslav and other bigwigs at Michael’s in Manhattan. Jeff Bezos ‘ Blue Origin flight was a topic of discussion.

The fact that celebs like Lauren Sanchez and Katy Perry also boarded the flight gave Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos the kind of free advertising money cannot buy.

Other superrich thrillseekers will now be lining up to book themselves a $300,000 Blue Origin flight.

And Bezos’ successful flight also likely caught the eye of the federal government, who have vastly boosted Elon Musk’s wealth through lucrative space exploration contracts handed to SpaceX boss Elon Musk.  

Zaslav, Stringer, Cohen, and Auletta – electing for an in-person meet as opposed to their usual monthly Zoom room – appeared to view such coverage as unbecoming, according to the Status report.

No other details about the Blue Origin conversation were provided, but other topics touched on by the famous foursome were laid bare by insiders.

The table talked openly about Trump as well, following some recent unrest in the economy caused by the conservative’s tariffs.   

Zaslav, who oversees CNN and its CEO Mark Thompson, was once hopeful Trump would ring in a new age of deal-making and deregulation.

The Republican has instead thrust the economy – and news industry – into relative uncertainty, with Carr’s FCC launching simultaneous probes into CBS, ABC and NBC, alongside NPR and PBS, as well as his separate lawsuits.

ABC already settled with Trump in regards to his $16million defamation filing in response to erroneous on-air comments from GMA’s George Stephanopoulos, for an undisclosed sum.

Carr, a fierce Trump ally, last week accused Comcast of ‘distorting’ the news after its subsidiary NBC pedaled a different narrative about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the administration.

New Yorker Media Reporter Ken Auletta and longtime Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen were in attendance as well

Longtime Sony Chairman and CEO Howard Stringer

‘Now that I’ve done it, I really do feel I can take on anything,’ King, 70, said upon touching down. ‘Now that I’ve been through it, I know now that I could do it again’

‘Comcast knows that federal law requires its licensed operations to serve the public interest,’ Carr wrote in a post on X Wednesday. ‘News distortion doesn’t cut it.’

Speaking of supposedly distorted news, a book set to detail what was transpiring behind the scenes during Joe Biden’s last years in office was discussed Monday by the media magnates as well – as did the former president.

‘Biden, I’m told, also came up, with the table discussing the slate of books about him, including the forthcoming nonfiction by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson,’ Dracy wrote.

He added how the book – set to release next month – is ‘expected to paint a harsh portrait of’ stations’ coverage surrounding the president at the time, supporting claims of a coverup.

Meanwhile, the legal headache that is the 60 Minutes lawsuit continues to look to be obstacle for the Paramount-Skydance merger, as would any prospective legal pushback in response to King’s spin in space.   

It’s still unclear who – if anyone – footed the bill for the expedition, with a non-celebrity facing a $300,000 fare to make the same trip.