George Takei and William Shatner’s ongoing feud is boldly going where its never gone before, and it’s sure not anywhere pretty. After hearing about Shatner’s recent voyage into space via Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin capsule, Takei spared no time in slamming his former colleague-turned-rival for taking the trip, going as far as to call him “a specimen that’s unfit.” Takei made the remarks at last night’s opening of Thoughts of a Colored Man, a seven-man Broadway show that “weaves spoken word, slam poetry and rhythm into a mosaic of the inner lives of Black men.” However, turns out that even some moving theater isn’t enough to stop the former Star Trek star from expressing his extreme and ever-lingering distaste with Shatner.
“He’s a guinea pig, 90 years old and it’s important to find out what happens,” Takei reportedly told Page Six. “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. Although he’s not the fittest specimen of 90 years old, so he’ll be a specimen that’s unfit!”
Ultimately, Takei dismissed the trip as a whole, remarking “he’s boldly going where other people have gone before” before moving on from the subject.
Unfortunately, these jabs are just the latest in a string of fights between the two, with Takei calling Shatner “very self-centered” and the “biggest d**k on Star Trek,“ accusing the actor of sabotaging his career on the set by ensuring Takei’s character, Hikaru Sulu, “would not receive command of a spaceship.” In return, Shatner has expressed most confusion and pity toward Takei and his statements, stating:
“There’s a psychosis there … There must be something else inside George that is festering, and it makes him unhappy that he takes it out on me … Why would he go out of his way to denigrate me? It’s sad, I feel nothing but pity for him.”
While some would think Shatner (90) and Takei (84) would attempt to mend things during their golden years, this seems like one feud that’s likely to stick just around as long as the former sci-fi icons do.
