From Gwen Stefani to Katy Perry: The MAGA drift of celebrity Democrats

The space trip aboard a Blue Origin rocket that Katy Perry and five other women took on April 14 has further damaged the pop star’s already tarnished public image. This week, Perry admitted she felt like a “piñata” after being bombarded with hate on social media. The California native traveled alongside reporter and Jeff Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez, CBS journalist and host Gayle King, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, activist Amanda Nguyen, and producer Kerianne Flynn. The 10-minute suborbital flight, operated by Bezos’ company Blue Origin, reportedly cost close to half a million dollars per person.

The trip has sparked a wave of criticism, both in traditional media — where opinion pieces have proliferated — and on social media, where memes mocking Perry have gone viral. “Can we send her back to space?” said one user. Celebrities including actresses Amy Schumer and Olivia Munn, and model Emily Ratajkowski, also weighed in with criticism. “Saying that you care about Mother Earth and it’s about Mother Earth, and you’re going up in a spaceship that is built and paid for by a company that’s singlehandedly destroying the planet?” Ratajkowski said in a video.

While Perry endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris during the presidential campaign, her perceived coziness with Bezos — who is widely seen as having helped fuel Donald Trump’s electoral success — has been the final straw for many longtime fans already disillusioned with her.

The backlash began with her comeback album 143, released last summer. The lead single, Woman’s World, featured longtime collaborator Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald — the producer accused of rape by singer Kesha in 2014. Though the lengthy legal battle ended in a settlement, Dr. Luke remains a polarizing figure, and Perry was heavily criticized for partnering with an accused rapist on a song that purported to champion female empowerment.

Now, her much-publicized spaceflight with Bezos — who even barred The Washington Post (a paper he owns) from endorsing Harris — has further soured her reputation, at least in some parts of the United States.

Katy Perry is far from the only openly Democratic celebrity who appears to be warming to Donald Trump and his base. Kim Kardashian — long vocal in her support for Democratic causes — faced a storm of backlash after posting a photo of Melania Trump on her Instagram during the Republican’s inauguration, an act many interpreted as a subtle show of support. With over 357 million followers, Kardashian’s post didn’t go unnoticed. Although she didn’t attend the inauguration, unlike some of her billionaire friends, speculation about a political shift has been mounting.

A January article in The Cut, titled Is Kim Kardashian Just a Republican Now?, explored the business mogul’s connections to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, with whom she’s collaborated on criminal justice reform efforts.

More recently, Kardashian has drawn criticism for cozying up to Elon Musk’s ventures. In November, she shared a video interacting with Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, and just weeks ago, she sparked fresh outrage by posing next to the company’s controversial Cybertruck for a Perfect Magazine photoshoot. The post received thousands of comments, including: “I’m never going to buy your products again” and “Tell me whose side you’re on without telling me whose side you’re on.”

Gwen Stefani’s political shift hasn’t gone unnoticed, either. One of the most influential artists of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Stefani has largely stayed out of the spotlight in recent years, making few public appearances.

But lately, her name has been making the rounds online — though not because of her music. Subtle signs of a potential change in her political views have been circulating for some time, fueling speculation. The rumors gained traction a few months ago when she publicly expressed enthusiasm for an interview between actor Jonathan Roumie and Tucker Carlson, a media figure widely known in the U.S. for his far-right commentary and promotion of conspiracy theories.

More than a decade ago, Stefani was among the many celebrities who actively supported Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, even performing at Democratic fundraising events. She was also invited to Obama’s final state dinner in 2016. But since then, speculation about her possible shift toward more conservative views has steadily grown. So much so that, in a 2021 interview with Paper magazine, the interviewer asked her point-blank whether she now identified as a Republican. Stefani declined to comment or make any political statements.

The latest move raising eyebrows among fans and critics alike was her collaboration with Hallow, a Catholic prayer app. While some brushed off the speculation, others see a consistent pattern, especially following her 2021 marriage to country singer Blake Shelton, a known conservative and Trump supporter. Of course, marrying someone with different political views doesn’t necessarily indicate a shift, but Stefani’s apparent admiration for right-wing commentator Candace Owens — whom she follows on X — has added fuel to the fire.

Leaving aside openly pro-Trump figures like Kanye West and actors Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight — who Trump recently named a “special ambassador” to Hollywood — Republican support in the entertainment industry has traditionally been timid compared to that of Democrats. However, the shifting political climate, along with the absence of celebrity outcry during awards season and the Oscars over Trump-era policies, suggests a broader quieting of progressive voices in Hollywood. These silences, combined with subtle endorsements and associations, have led many to suspect a growing MAGA drift among several celebrities who, at the very least, normalize or downplay Trump‘s aggressive policies.

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