William Shatner Just Gave The Lowdown On Those 'Secret' Star Trek Rumors: 'Get A Life'

The cancellation of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy raised many questions about the future of the franchise and created a lot of speculation. Unfortunately, it's also led to misinformation, as William Shatner was forced to release a statement denying rumors he had a "secret" conversation with Paramount/CBS about Star Trek.

As former Trek veterans like Tim Russ speculate on the motives behind Starfleet Academy's cancellation, Shatner is going on the offensive on Instagram and denying videos alleging he met with executives to discuss the modern direction of Trek and influenced the decision. Shatner quoted his famous line from a Saturday Night Live skit in his response:

Shatner is referring to an influx of AI-narrated videos on YouTube, which use generated images and alleged false narratives to suggest he and other prominent stars like Patrick Stewart are against the modern era of Star Trek. One of those videos in particular has 257,000 views, and features a thumbnail of Shatner yelling at Starfleet Academy actress Kerrice Brooks. It was uploaded weeks after the actor tweeted about meeting the cast and calling them adorable.

The videos maintain that William Shatner bemoaned modern Star Trek and shared a role in this latest era seemingly coming to an end, just weeks after he publicly bemoaned Starfleet Academy's cancellation. He continued his statement, offering candid advice to fans eager to believe he has an axe to grind against the modern era, and "hate watching" Trek in the name of bashing it:

William Shatner may be caught up in this situation due to comments he made years ago during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con. The actor became a notable face for the "anti Nu-Trek" fans after he said creator Gene Roddenberry would "turn in his grave" if he saw some of the stuff happening in the modern shows.

CinemaBlend followed up with Shatner years later, knowing he famously does not watch Star Trek, and wanted clarity on why he said that. He said he was speaking about intimate relationships between coworkers, something Trek has highlighted as far back as The Next Generation. Despite that, some took it as commentary related to inclusive casting and portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships.

The impression that William Shatner isn't a fan of "woke" Star Trek prompted lawmakers in Washington to publicly request he run the franchise, which also got support from prominent figureheads like Elon Musk. Perhaps now that he has made his stance clear on the situation, we'll see less of this false content claiming otherwise.

While there are no active shows in development, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will return to the 2026 TV schedule later this year. I look forward to its return, if only so the fandom can take a break from the back-and-forth discourse about the franchise's future.