If you have ever spent five minutes in the Star Trek fandom, you know the vibes. There is the "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" utopia on screen, and then there is the absolute, decades-long chaos happening off-screen. Specifically, the beef between George Takei and William Shatner. It is the kind of feud that makes modern Twitter spats look like a playground disagreement. We are talking about sixty years of resentment, public insults, and "he-said-she-said" drama that has outlasted the actual show by half a century.
Honestly, it is kinda wild. Most people assume it is just two old guys who can’t let go of the past. But when you look at the specifics, it is a fascinating case study in ego, professional jealousy, and how two people can live through the exact same events and remember them in completely different ways.
The "Day Player" vs. The Star
The root of the problem is basically a fundamental disagreement on what their relationship even was. To George Takei, he was a core member of an ensemble cast that built a cultural phenomenon. To William Shatner? Takei was just a guy who worked a few days a week.
Shatner has been pretty brutal about this lately. In a 2023 interview, he basically called Takei a "peripheral guy" and claimed he barely knew him. Shatner’s perspective is that he was the lead, he was on set every single day, and the supporting cast—Takei, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan—were just there occasionally. He once famously tweeted that Takei was only on set for maybe 20 or 30 days a year.
Takei, understandably, finds this insulting. He views the Star Trek cast as a family (except for "the prima donna," as he calls Shatner). He’s spent years describing Shatner as a "team-killer" who would steal lines, manipulate camera angles to keep the spotlight on himself, and generally treat everyone else like furniture.
Takei isn't the only one who felt this way. The late James Doohan (Scotty) was notoriously open about his dislike for Shatner for years. Even Leonard Nimoy, who was Shatner’s closest friend for decades, ended up in a cold war with him before he passed away in 2015.
The Great Wedding Invitation Mystery
If there is one moment that solidified this feud for the modern era, it is the 2008 wedding. When George Takei married his longtime partner Brad Altman, it was a massive deal—the first high-profile same-sex wedding in West Hollywood.
Most of the Star Trek cast was there. Walter Koenig (Chekov) was the best man. Nichelle Nichols was the "best lady." But William Shatner was a no-show.
Shortly after, Shatner posted a YouTube video that was... well, intense. He claimed he wasn't invited. He called the snub "psychotic" and "sick," accusing Takei of using the drama for publicity.
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The Two Versions of the Story:
- Takei's Version: "We absolutely invited him. He just never responds to anything. He’s never showed up to any of our happy celebrations over the last forty years."
- Shatner's Version: "I never got an invitation. He’s making it up to stay relevant by attacking me."
Who’s telling the truth? Who knows. In the age of 2026 digital trails, we’d have a tracking number. In 2008, it was just one man's word against another's. But the fallout was permanent. Shatner’s "psychotic" comment is something Takei has never quite forgiven.
Boldly Going... to the Tabloids
As they’ve gotten older, the jabs haven't stopped. They’ve actually gotten weirder. When Shatner went to space on Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket in 2021, most of the world was watching a 90-year-old man have a profound emotional experience.
Takei? He called him a "guinea pig."
He went on record saying Shatner wasn't the "fittest specimen" and joked that he was only being used to see what happens to an old body in zero-G. Shatner fired back, telling The Times that Takei has "never stopped blackening my name" and that he’s "consumed by envy and hate."
It is a bit of a tragedy, really. You have these two icons who represent a hopeful future, yet they are locked in this very human, very petty cycle of bitterness.
Why This Feud Still Matters
It’s easy to dismiss this as just celebrity gossip. But for fans, the George Takei and William Shatner rivalry is a reminder that the "Utopia" of Star Trek was hard-won. The show preached cooperation, but the set was a pressure cooker of 1960s egos and studio politics.
Interestingly, Shatner’s wife, Elizabeth, has reportedly been trying to get him to "bury the hatchet" recently. There have been rumors in early 2025 and 2026 that she’s worried about the stress it puts on him at his age. But as of now, the "cantankerous old man" (Takei’s words) and the "bitter" co-star (Shatner’s words) aren't exactly booking a lunch date.
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How to Navigate the Drama as a Fan
- Separate the Art from the Artist: You can love Captain Kirk and Hikaru Sulu without needing the actors to be best friends.
- Read the Memoirs with a Grain of Salt: If you read Shatner's Boldly Go and Takei's To the Stars, you are reading two different versions of history. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
- Appreciate the Longevity: Honestly, the fact that they are both still around and still fiery enough to argue is kind of impressive.
The reality is that this feud will probably never end. It has become part of the Star Trek mythos. Whether it’s about stolen close-ups in 1967 or a "missing" wedding invite in 2008, these two are linked forever.
If you want to understand the full scope of the drama, the best next step is to look at the interviews from the 2006 Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner. Takei’s set there is legendary for its "brutal honesty" wrapped in comedy, and it’s perhaps the only time they were in the same room and "joking" about their issues. It gives a lot of context to why things are still so frosty today.