space

William Shatner Claps Back After George Takei Mocks His Voyage to Space

The former "Star Trek" co-stars have been feuding for decades

(Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

Former “Star Trek” co-stars William Shatner and George Takei are extending their feud and exchanging insults following the 90-year-old’s recent space expedition on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin capsule.

On Thursday Oct. 14, Takei took a jab at Shatner, telling Page Six, “He’s boldly going where other people have gone before.”

The 84-year-old discussed his former co-star during the opening of “Thoughts of a Colored Man” on Wednesday night, saying, “He’s a guinea pig, 90 years old and it’s important to find out what happens.”

“So 90 years old is going to show a great deal more on the wear and tear on the human body, so he’ll be a good specimen to study,” Takei said. “Although he’s not the fittest specimen of 90 years old, so he’ll be a specimen that’s unfit!”

On Friday, Shatner responded to Takei’s comments on Twitter, writing, “Don’t hate George.”

“The only time he gets press is when he talks bad about me,” the tweet read. “He claims 50+ years ago I took away a camera angle that denied him 30 more seconds of prime time TV. I’m giving it back to him now by letting him spew his hatred for the world to see! Bill the 🐷.”

Takei wasn’t the only person in the public eye to criticize Shatner, and Bezos, for his space expedition. Prince William commented on the space race between billionaires during an interview with the BBC that aired on Thursday, criticizing the choice to go on these expeditions rather than working on saving the Earth itself.

“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," the Duke of Cambridge said.

Shatner and William got into a feud over his recent voyage, albeit a polite one. On Thursday, the actor responded to the prince’s comments during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

"The idea here is not to go, 'Yeah, look at me. I'm in space,’” Shatner said. “The landing that consumed all that... energy and people to take a look and go, 'Oh, look at that.' No.”

He continued, adding, “I would tell the prince, and I hope the prince gets the message, this is a baby step into the idea of getting industry up there, so that all those polluting industries, especially, for example, the industries that make electricity... off of Earth."

"The prince is missing the point,” Shatner concluded. “The point is these are the baby steps to show people [that] it's very practical. You can send somebody like me up into space."

It was announced earlier this month that Shatner would fly to space on the Blue Origin rocket New Shepard NS-18. He was joined by Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations, in addition to two paying customers, Glen de Vries and Chris Boshuizen. This week, after a one day delay due to weather, the actor, who is most synonymous for portraying Captain Kirk on “Star Trek,” became the oldest person to fly to space.

Shatner opened up about the experience this week on TODAY with Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, describing the voyage and the thoughts and emotions it drummed up for him.

“I was trying to think of something clever to say and then we get up and when I was there, everything I thought might be clever to say went out the window,” he told Savannah and Hoda. “All of a sudden the blue is down below and the blackness of space — and space is interesting, the universe lies there — but in that moment, in that window, it was only black and ominous.”

The actor said he was “struck so profoundly” by everything, explaining, “I was overwhelmed with the experience, with the sensation of looking at death and looking at life and what’s become a cliché of how we need to take care of the planet.”

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

Copyright Today Digital Originals
Contact Us