William Shatner became the oldest man in space last month. A few minutes aboard Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard NS-18 rocket and the iconic Star Trek captain saw the stars up close. However, in the weeks since, fellow actors have decided to oust the fictional captain for his decision to go boldly beyond.
In response to Shatner's trip, multiple Star Trek co-stars have expressed their distaste for the actor's trip. Mainstay Trek actor George Takei mocked Shatner's 90-year-old body and questioned why he didn't go to space instead. But Takei isn't the only Trekkie that has issues with Shatner's trip.
Star Trek co-star labels William Shatner “a fool”.
In an segment with ITV talk show host Jonathan Ross, Star Trek actress Dame Joan Collins discussed the actor’s recent trip with Brian Cox. Via The Guardian, the two were both unimpressed with the actors decision to essentially play PR for Jeff Bezos.
Collins, who starred alongside Shatner in the original series, called the actor “a fool” for taking part. She said:
“It’s amazing isn’t it? What a fool. Who wants to do that? No, absolutely not. Did you see Bill Shatner? He was in the air and they were turning him upside down. Let’s take care of this planet first before we start going off.”
After Collins’ speech, fellow guest Brian Cox was asked if he would like to go to space. In response, he said: “No, absolutely not. I think it’s ridiculous. I remember watching [Sir Richard] Branson and Bezos going up for their 11 minutes or whatever. No, we do not need more spaceships. We’ve got enough crap flying around up there. We do not need any more.”
Read More: William Shatner's post-space speech was beautiful, but Bezos didn't care
The actor said we need to protect what we have
William Shatner is not blind to the issues of environmental disaster. Prior to his rocket trip, a distressed Shatner explained that humanity isn't treating the planet as well as it should be. Even after his trip, the actor expressed that the Earth needs to be protected.
In fact, over the years, the Star Trek actor has fought against environmental distress with vegetarianism and battling the environmentally toxic Hewlett-Packard. However, prior accomplishments shouldn't rid him of modern criticism.
Read More: Multiple new Star Trek movies are in development, including Kelvin continuation
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