William Shatner, 91, says his former Star Trek co-stars criticise him for ‘publicity’ 

William Shatner has lashed out at his former Star Trek co-stars after they criticized his behavior on the 1960s sci-fi set for years.

The 91 actor, who played the famous Captain James T Kirk in both the hit series and seven films, now says he realizes that they are “doing it for the publicity.”

Speak with The times he said: ‘Sixty years after an incident, they are still on that track. Don’t you think that’s a little weird? It’s like a disease.”

Speaking: William Shatner, 91, has berated his former Star Trek colleagues after years of criticizing his behavior on the ’60s sci-fi set (pictured in August)

Add: “I started to understand that they were doing it for the publicity.”

Even when the actor recently went into space thanks to billionaire Jeff Bezos, George Takei said he was sent as a “guinea pig” to assess the impact of space on an “unfit” specimen.

‘George [Takei] never stopped making my name black. These people are bitter and bitter. I have no patience with them anymore. Why believe in people who are consumed with envy and hatred?’

Unlucky: The 91-year-old actor who famously played Captain James T Kirk in the series and in seven films says he now realizes they’re “doing it for the publicity” (pictured in the 1991 film)

MailOnline has reached out to George Takei’s representatives for comment.

In his memoir Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder, William said he was devastated when the late co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Ulhura, accused him of being “cold and arrogant.”

He wrote: ‘I was shocked to hear this, I was ashamed that I hadn’t realized it.’

Friction: Even as the actor went into space thanks to billionaire Elon Musk, his former co-star George Takei said he was sent as a “guinea pig” to assess the impact of space on an “unfit” specimen (George previously pictured this year)

Sad: In his memoir Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder, the actor writes that he was devastated when the late co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Ulhura, accused him of being “cold and arrogant” (pictured together on the show)

William was also close friends with Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, but their relationship became strained before his death in 2015 — for reasons the Kirk actor didn’t know.

But according to the Giant Geek Robot Friction arose between the two when William made a 2011 Star Trek documentary and interviewed many actors who were not part of the franchise but did not include Nimoy.

It comes after William said: said seeing Earth from space aboard Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin rocket was a deeply sad experience, but one that inspired him to cherish the beauty of our planet.

In an excerpt from his memoir, he writes that he was struck by one of the “strongest feelings of sadness” he had ever experienced.

Former Friends: William was also close friends with Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, but their relationship was strained before his death in 2015 — for reasons the Kirk actor didn’t know

Going on to say that instead of being filled with awe, as he expected to be, the sight of the warm blue glow of the earth surrounded by the cold black of space made him feel 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 spaceflight with Blue Origin than he’d previously revealed.

The revelations come a year after Shatner was visibly moved immediately after he stepped out of the Blue Origin capsule in October 2021, when he burst into tears, telling Bezos, “Everyone in the world needs to do this.”

William wrote that he never realized how precious life on Earth was until he left it behind.

‘I discovered that the beauty is not out there, but down here, with all of us. Putting that behind me made my bond with our little planet even closer,” he wrote in his memoir.

He said seeing the Earth so fragile filled him with sadness to think how humanity is so flippant about its destruction.

Rocketman: It comes after William said seeing Earth from space aboard Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin rocket was a deeply sad experience, but one that inspired him to cherish the beauty of our planet