'It's like a sickness': William Shatner slams 'Star Trek' co-stars for criticizing him 'for publicity'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: William Shatner, the man who recently visited space, has clapped back at his 'Star Trek' co-stars after years of them criticizing his behavior on the 1960s sci-fi set. Shatner now alleges that the brutal criticism about him made him realize they "do it for publicity."
The 91-year-old actor who famously played Captain James T Kirk in the hit series as well as in seven films said of his co-stars, "Sixty years after some incident they are still on that track. Don't you think that's a little weird? It's like a sickness," in an interview to The Times. "I began to understand that they were doing it for publicity," he added.
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"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?" Even in his memoir 'Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder', Shatner said he was shattered and shocked when late co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played lieutenant Ulhura, accused him of being "cold and arrogant." He wrote, "I was horrified to learn this, ashamed that I hadn't realised it."
Shatner, who was friends with co-star Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, also shared a tumultuous relationship with him. Their relationship strained before his death in 2015. Although according to the Giant Geek Robot, the alleged friction between the two began when Shatner made a 2011 Star Trek documentary and interviewed many actors who had been apart of the franchise, but failed to include Nimoy.
Even when the actor recently went into space thanks to billionaire Jeff Bezos, Takei said he was a being sent as a "guinea pig" to assess the impact of space on an "unfit" specimen, claimed Daily Mail. Nevertheless, Shatner while talking about his space experience in his memoir said it was a profoundly sorrowful experience, but one which inspired him to cherish the beauty of our planet. He wrote in his memoir that he was struck with one of the "strongest feelings of grief" he had ever experienced.
Shatner said he was moved by the Earth's warm blue glow surrounded by the cold black of space, which left him feeling like he was at "a funeral." The excerpt was published by Variety journalist Marianne Williamson, and offered a deeper insight into Shatner's reaction to his space flight with Blue Origin. It was revealed that Shatner was seen to be visibly moved immediately after stepping out of the Blue Origin capsule in October 2021, when he broke down in tears, telling Bezos, "Everybody in the world needs to do this." William wrote that he never realized how precious life on Earth was until he left it behind.