It seems that tensions are once again flaring up between two of Star Trek’s surviving co-stars. George Takei and William Shatner have butted heads in the past, and despite playing nice at press events and the like, it seems there’s still a lot of tension behind the scenes. For whatever reason, the two can’t seem to get along. Shatner thinks that Takei rides on the waves that Captain Kirk created, while Takei thinks Shatner is a total diva. Is either side justified? Who’s to say? It’s just unfortunate to see them fight.
The most recent spat seems to have started earlier in November of this year, with Shatner insulting Takei in an interview with The Times of London. During the interview, he discussed his career over the years, his experience on Star Trek, and his feelings regarding his own costars. He said:
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. I began to understand they were doing it for publicity… George 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?
Takei, for his part, isn’t without some barbs of his own. In an interview with The Guardian, he tries to appear as if he’s as impartial and nonplussed as possible. It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to tell he’s angry though. He said:
I know he came to London to promote his book and talked about me wanting publicity by using his name. So I decided I don’t need his name to get publicity. I have much more substantial subject matter that I want to get publicity for, so I’m not going to refer to Bill in this interview at all. Although I just did. He’s just a cantankerous old man and I’m going to leave him to his devices. I’m not going to play his game.
Takei also said there was camaraderie amongst that original Trek crew – “except for one [meaning Shatner], who was a prima donna.”
This may be a tiff that lasts until the end of the costars’ lives, but ideally, they’d get everything resolved before then.
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