William Shatner has, it’s safe to say, a reputation for being difficult to get along with, and his new comments about his former Star Trek series co-stars have reignited an old feud.
Shatner starred as arguably the greatest Star Trek captain of all time, Captain Kirk, in the original Star Trek series and the subsequent Star Trek movies. In that ’60s TV series he was joined by a cast of equally legendary co-stars, most notably Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and Nichelle Nichols who played the Star Trek characters Spock, Bones, and Uhura respectively.
Other co-stars included George Takei, who played the USS Enterprise’s pilot Lieutenant Sulu. Takei has been feuding with Shatner for some time now, and in more than one instance has made unflattering remarks about his notoriously difficult former co-star. Back when Shatner famously took a voyager to space, Takei said that Shatner was a “guinea pig” who was only on the flight so that the impacts on an “unfit man” could be determined.
Now, Shatner has shot back. In an interview with The Sunday Times, the actor said “George [Takei] has never stopped blackening my name. These people are bitter and embittered. I have run out of patience with them. Why give credence to people consumed by envy and hate?”
It’s a very dramatic, theatrical response, and you’d expect that Takei (who is often vocal on social media) will send his own photon-torpedoes back at Shatner in return.
For some drama-free Star Trek fun, check out our guides to the USS Titan, Strange New Worlds season 2, and Discovery season 5. Or, take a look at the best science fiction movies of all time.