Over the years, there have been many major celebrity feuds. The feud between Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Taylor Swift is one of the more recent. The feud between Jay Leno and David Letterman went on for years. Nicki Minaj vs Mariah Carey. Paris Hilton vs Nicole Ritchie (childhood best friends!). Sylvester Stallone vs Richard Gere goes all the way back to 1974.
Martha Stewart vs Gwyneth Paltrow. Hillary Duff vs Lindsey Lohan. Madonna vs Elton John. Elton John vs George Michael. Elton John vs his Mother. Of course, I must include one of my favorites, Donald Trump vs Rosie O'Donnell. The Don wins that one hand over fist, HAHA! My ultimate favorite celebrity feud though is one that has been simmering since about 1969 between two actors whose characters they once portrayed are two of the most recognized in TV and Hollywood.
William Shatner's 'Captain Kirk' and George Takei's 'Mr. Sulu', along with Mr. Spock, Lt. Uhura, Chief Engineer Mr. Scott and Mr. Checkov are all immortalized in the Start Trek TV shows and in the first 6 feature films. Shatner appeared in the 7th film of the movie franchise, 'Star Trek Generations' in 1994. Along with the reboot in 2009, there are now 13 Star Trek feature films.
From the very beginning, it appears Takei and Shatner never really got along well. In a NY Post article dated July 21, 2014 Takei stated, "“Canadians (Shatner was born in Montreal) have a certain image of being even-tempered and friendly and all that. Well, he is a person who is that way with himself". In his 1994 autobiography, he stated that Shatner would ignore him on set in the early days when they were filming the TV series. He also claimed that the script for Star Trek V was changed to remove a scene that was to be filmed wherein Mr. Sulu is promoted to captain and given command his own starship.
When Takei married his long time partner in 2008, Shatner claimed he wasn't invited to the wedding while Takei claimed that he did send Shatner an invitation and never received a response. In 2011, in his own memoir, Shatner claimed that Takei had been saying mean things about him for 40 years. "He says that I have a ‘big, shiny ego!’ Well, actors have big egos. If mine is shiny, it’s because I tend to it very carefully and lovingly. Perhaps George’s needs a good polish.”
Takei has also claimed that whenever Shatner needs publicity, he brings up this feud between them. Others have claimed that Takei has done the very same thing. Either way, it sure is working and has generated a lot of publicity over the years and it continues to this day. Howerd Stern put up a video on Youtube on May 6, 2021 in which Takei responds to comments made by Shatner in which Shatner claimed Takei was barely involved in the Star Trek franchise.
During a 2015 Star Trek convention in Las Vegas , Shatner was filmed trying to explain the feud between himself and Takei which is also available on Youtube. A Youtuber left this comment, "I’ve been to separate conventions with both Shatner and Takei. Shatner had the largest venue and talked positives. Takei had the smallest room and talked negatives. The feud in a nutshell".
Is there jealousy involved here? Is it time to bury the hatchet? I'll always be a fan of Star Trek but it's clear the star of the show was William Shatner and of course, Leonard Nimoy came a close second. The others, as great as they are / were and as much loved as they are, were supporting actors to the star of the show. Without Captain Kirk, there would never have been a Star Trek or a Mr. Sulu.
Then again, all of his co-starts have at one time or another stated about the 'difficulties' of working with Shatner. It was revealed by Shatner himself in 2016, one year after Leonard Nimoy's death that the two hadn't spoken a word to each other in some five years right up to his death. Apparently, Nimoy was not happy with Shatner filming him at a convention and including some of the footage in a documentary he produced titled 'The Captains' (released in 2011) without his permission.
Celebrity feuds, on many occasions have actually been fake feuds, meant to raise awareness to themselves. Other times, was meant as a joke to raise money for charity. Others were simply made up by the mainstream media such as the supposed feud between Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
In the end, it's impossible to get along with everyone. There will always be someone who doesn't get along with somebody. It's part of our human nature. I suppose we'll be seeing more celebrity feuds in the future. Hopefully, it will be just as entertaining as the feud between Captain Kirk and Mr. Sulu.
Thanks for stopping by. Please 'like' and subscribe. Tips are greatly appreciated and helps support my blog. It never costs you anything. That's what makes PublishOx so great.
Check out some of my other articles:
A brief history of the incredible, dependable zipper!
A brief history of the incredible, everlasting vinyl record
A brief history of The Beatles Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP
Those old vinyl LPs might be worth a few $$
A brief history of the Studebaker Corporation
A brief history of Seatrain Lines Inc.
The links below also help support my blog. Thank you in advance!
Join PublishOx and earn crypto for reading and writing articles. Tipping is always free! Join Now!
Start mining Bitcoin now with your old computer. I did!
Earn bonus 300 SwagBucks when you earn 300 SwagBucks in the first 30 days.
Making videos online is easier than ever. Get up to 20% your first year subscription at WeVideo.
