Billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson have “lost the plot”, according to Succession star Brian Cox.
The 75-year-old Scottish actor, who portrays media mogul Logan Roy on the HBO hit, said “rich guys do lose the plot sometimes”.
“Some rich guys think it’s best to be in [and] out of space most of the time,” Cox said. “When Branson said that we need more spaceships, I thought, ‘That’s the last thing this world needs is more spaceships.’”
Cox’s comments come after the Duke of Cambridge criticised the space race and space tourism, saying the world’s greatest minds need to focus on trying to fix the earth instead.
William’s comments, in an interview with BBC Newscast on BBC Sounds, aired the day after Star Trek’s William Shatner made history by becoming the oldest person in space.
The 90-year-old actor, known for his role as Captain James T Kirk, lifted off from the Texas desert on Wednesday in a rocket built by Amazon founder Bezos’s space travel company Blue Origin.
The duke, who was interviewed about climate change ahead of his inaugural Earthshot Prize awards, said: “We need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live.”
He also warned the Cop26 summit, where world leaders will gather in Glasgow at the end of the month, against “clever speak, clever words but not enough action”.
“I think for COP to communicate very clearly and very honestly what the problems are and what the solutions are going to be, is critical,” he said.
“We can’t have more clever speak, clever words but not enough action.”
The duke expressed his concerns about a rise in climate anxiety in young people, and said it would be a “absolute disaster” if his eldest son, Prince George, was having to talk about the same issue in 30 years time when it was too late.
“We are seeing a rise in climate anxiety. You know, people, young people now are growing up where their futures are basically threatened the whole time.
“It’s very unnerving and it’s very, you know, anxiety making,” he said.
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