William Shatner has earned the right to say whatever he wants. The man was the original Captain Kirk, and he’s still going strong at 82. Now he wants to kiss and make up with JJ Abrams after allegedly saying some caustic comments about the new model Star Trek.
Shatner was recently quoted as saying that Abrams was “a pig” for taking on Star Wars, along with Star Trek. “He’s collecting the two franchises and holding them close to his vest,” Shatner told Access Hollywood. “He’s probably the most talented director of that ilk we have, but he’s gone too far this time.”
Now Shatner may have been facetious when he said this, although you often get the impression he doesn’t realize how ridiculous he can be. (Exhibit A – His interpretation of Elton John’s Rocket Man.) So Shatner recently addressed his comments on the Howard Stern show.
Shatner says he wasn’t upset that he wasn’t cast in the first Star Trek Abrams directed. Leonard Nimoy was cast instead, and Shatner joked with him, “You know you’re old when you go back in time, and you’re still old!”
As for his “pig” comments, Shatner said, “I used the wrong word. Because he’s such a great director, they’ve asked him to do Star Wars as well as Star Trek, which theoretically are competitive franchises. So he’s the center of the universe there. That’s great. He’s a great director. JJ’s a wonderful guy, I love him. There’s a confluence there that maybe competition would have helped, but who knows?”
