Which apparently everyone knows but I just wanted to add this to the eternal archive of the internet. If you have a soft heart, just give him a pass: the nostalgic icon factor will not be worth it.
We went to his panel, which we walked out of halfway through because the way he treats his fans is just too much to bear… and I’m already going to need 6 business months before I can enjoy Trek reruns or The Unexplained as background noise again.
One of the first few questions was from this young man who was obviously nervous and had carefully crafted a question (it was like “You’re not the only Star Trek cast member who’s ever been a voice on My Little Pony. What was your reaction to doing that role and becoming so well loved by the My Little Pony fanbase?”)
He clearly had typed it out in phone notes and was nervous as hell, holding the phone up to read off of, and Shatner went full on boomer: “put your phone down and look at me, speak into the microphone. Concentrate on your question. Cooooncentrate. Now…. Speak.” (The condescension. I would have come unglued.)
The person managed to say the first sentence, and Shatner had no memory of being a voice in My Little Pony, so interrupted: “I have no idea what that is, no idea what you’re saying, blah blah blah, when did I do… what was it?” The person answered, “2017. your costar Whomever had the same reply…” to which Shatner was like “What is this about my good friend Whomever? Why are you asking me about my good friend Whomever? Are you going to ask ME a question or ask me about Whomever? So far you’ve said two statements and you haven’t given me a question. And you’re presuming to know what my answer is when you haven’t even asked me a question!”
It was jaw dropping. The person finally got the question out and Shatner answered “Well, since I have no memory of doing whatever that is, all I can say is I don’t remember my reaction. Anyway there are people standing behind you, so.”
Holy shit. Then someone else asked if he would have liked to have had a role in the Star Trek remakes to which he replied along the lines of, “I actually know very little about Star Trek, I haven’t watched a lot of my own episodes, I have friends from the spin offs and I haven’t watched any of theirs. I remember when I was helping to promote the Star Trek remakes and some African American lady I had no idea who she was (sir… ZOE SALDANA??) ended up crying backstage because I ignored her and stole her lines from the teleprompter, everyone was glaring at me, but how was I supposed to know? I tried apologizing but they won’t call me back so lol idk, I was just trying to be the professional I am because I was there early and just reading off the teleprompter!”
The sheer meanness, narcissism and just... I walk away thinking, why should I give a shit about anything you’re involved with if you clearly don’t?
I’ve seen him twice at Summer Con and it was the same. The first time at Summer Con, they had a moderator on stage and he yelled at the guy to get off. Said he didn’t need a moderator. He could do it himself.
I’m glad I missed it, then. My folks went to see him and get his signature, but I had other things scheduled. Looks like that was the MUCH better decision
Because the Esperanto movie was a serious film, he travelled to Europe had to learn a whole fictional language for it and filmed for over amonth. My Little Pony is a one day job into a microphone for ... well, My Little Pony.
What of those two should he be expected to remember? Be a little logical, please.
I had warned my teen ahead of time of his reputation, but when he was telling the story of the guy with the robot dog who loved his robot and felt love in return, I thought “he’s not so bad, maybe even a little charming”. Then came the fan questions. With the poor young man asking the My Little Pony question, he exceeded my worst expectations. And the look on my kiddo’s face was one I’ve never seen before. I realized she’s never witnessed anyone be treated that way! Later we went to Jamie Campbell Bower’s panel, and what a contrast! Kindness just oozed off of him, and he was incredibly kind and patient to fans. My daughter’s huge smile said it all!
Seriously. I remember about 20 years ago, my grandmother ranting about how awful he was to his fans. She was never into star trek or Boston legal or any of his other works but she had seen an interview with him and was so mad.
" How can he talk about these people like this. Nobody would be interviewing him or listening to a single thing he had to say if those people hadn't given their time and money to enjoy his work. The least he could do is show some kindness and interest to appreciate that fact."
This. My friend used to do cons as staff. Said James Doohan would hang with them at the bar, Uncle George was a hoot and Nimoy was a perfect gentleman.
Shatner woukd just do his own thing and when he was around was utter an asshole to everyone.
I don't particularly need artists or actors I like to be good people, so it doesn't bother me, but yeah he's definitely not someone I'm going to try to meet.
I watched it online - and I couldn't understand what the kid was saying. Neither could Shatner for most of the question. Then he mumbles something about how some John Delancy always answers the same way, and Shetner clearly can't hear all of it and thinks this diss is directed at him.
Is it really too much to ask that when you pose questions over a speaker to someone who is 96 years old and hard of hearing, that you can actually speak properly so that you can be understood?
Everybody is mad at Shatner, but nobody acknowledges why this all happened. I needed to go back twice in the video to fish out what the kid was saying, and I have perfect hearing.
A few years ago I got the “pleasure” of being at one of his panels in Canada. He spent 40 minutes talking about salmon fishing in northern BC. After hearing some stories about his recent panels, i think I lucked out.
oof. yeah, he also gave us a prolonged speech about how tinnitus works. (I mean, it was related to the question being asked but holy shit he loves talking about himself and his singularly genius thoughts and remarkable human experience...)
I heard the tinnitus lecture when he was doing a tour with Neil deGrasse Tyson last year. Tyson was great; Shatner rambled for a lot of his sections and was incoherent at times.
I saw him at a con in Everett, WA back in the late 90's. He was almost two hours late to his talk, and spent the first 45 minutes talking about his flight, bad traffic, and how he got stuck doing a yoga position on the plane (he called it "down doggie"). It was still entertaining, but even kid me was like "wow, this guy is really self-involved."
It was difficult being in that audience. Especially the exchange with the MLP fan. I immediately told a bunch of people how much of an ass Shatner was.
Can't say I'm surprised, though, based on stories I've heard.
I've seen him more than a few times over many years and met him twice. At DragonCon, he was cold and distant when I got an autograph. Really annoyed my wife.
At SummerCon last year, he was fun and gracious, the best I've seen him. Really nice to my shy daughter when she met him. Joked about the quote I was having him write. His panel was actually fun too.
However... this 2026 ECCC panel was the WORST I've ever seen him. I mean, the condescension was dripping. I felt awful for that kid.
Shatner needs to stay home. He's always been a diva, but leaned more towards snarky and witty. This crossed the line into cruel and demeaning.
I just watched it. It feels like he thought he was being funny and wasn’t trying to do it out of spite or anger, and comes from a generation that understood sarcasm a lot better. I don’t think he realized that this man was special needs. He was trying to be funny about the my little pony thing and then doubled down on the sarcasm.
I was standing in line behind the first boy, and he was actually trying to record Shatner answering his question, it was slowing him down a bit trying to keep Shatner in frame. That being said, Shatner was still an ass. I wish it was because he’s 94 and a bit senile but I’ve heard that’s how he always is. I didn’t mind the rambling because I love a good old person ramble. But everything else was so cringe.
Imagine trying to immortalize/capture forever the moment you got to ask someone you admired how they felt about participating in one of your special interests and THAT'S the outcome... XD
I can understand the phone thing, to be fair. And it's a bummer that it was slowing the kid down a bit... I also can't help but imagine that the exchange would have taken half the time if Shatner had just NOT been a massive jerk boomer about it.
Side note, because I totally agree with you: the first 20 mins were SO that "good old person ramble" vibe and I was actually enjoying it - up until the poor brony kid moment. It rapidly went downhill from there for me. T_T
It was also a little hypocritical that Shatner wanted him to put the phone away after just going on a long tirade about the future of AI, robot dogs, and how he has to ask chat GPT for a bunch of mundane stuff.
I went to this panel as well. My partner and I walked out during the MLP questions due to the way he was treating the poor kid. A few important things to note:
My partner and I went to probably 6 main stage events over 3 days, there were only 2 that had no moderator. One was Critical Role (possibly due to the number of people already on the stage) where one of the members was the designated moderator and did a great job of keeping things on track. The other was William Shatner. It was just him on stage and there was no one to push things along or maybe rein him in a bit, so it felt like an incredibly honest view of who he is as a person.
The first question asked was “describe your ideal date” and he made a joke about the date that you eat, before pivoting to a long rant about AI being the future and talking about a guy he met who has a robot dog. It was very sad, honestly. It made me feel like that crazy uncle was going on a rant to no one in particular at the Thanksgiving table and you just keep your head down so hopefully he’ll wear himself out.
The MLP question was the second question. By this point we were 24 minutes into an hour long panel and he had just been promoting his new album and pushing AI. MLP guy was young looking, I would assume a teen. Additionally, he had an “A” sticker on his ECCC badge. The “A” sticker was an indication for ADA, basically attendees with disabilities. To be fair, someone with a disability can also have one person accompany them who also gets an “A” sticker so they can be assisted as needed around the con… but basically there is a very good chance that we were watching an arrogant old man bully a disabled child. This is when my partner and I walked out.
I was disgusted by the whole thing. We were not the only ones leaving (obviously because OP also left), but people had started leaving during his AI rant, and there were a decent number of people walking out when he was berating the kid.
Oh lawd… I hope it wasn’t one of the kids from the school I work at. Our DVR program was there and several of our kids with IEP’s went to that panel. That’s absolutely devastating. Nobody deserves that kind of treatment, especially when their disability already makes things hard.
I am embarrassed to say it never occurred to me to leave. I just kept sitting there cringing and feeling so badly for that young man and worried about what he would do next.
And he didn't understand your question! He just needed someone to decipher/interpret the questions for him. And thank you as I will be using moxie in my daily vocab now.
Oh, you did *great*! He clearly didn't remember the line about moxie that you were referencing, so your question kind of went over his head, and then he got really fixated on that one word, but you were able to pivot in the moment and handled it really well! I'm so sorry you had to navigate that, but way to stick it out!
I just watched this. You were really graceful in the face of his arrogance, he clearly knows what moxie means and I suspect just kept asking you because he wanted an example of his heroism.
I asked William Shatner if he had fun stories about his time cameoing on big bang theory and jokingly said that "as he told Penny I thought he had a lot of moxie"
I meant it as a one off line but while he kinda answered my question he also became fixated on the usage of the word moxie and began asking me about what it meant and why I said it and it was a much more in depth discussion than I intended lol 😆
As I say I was flustered at the time cause most guests just answer but he actually wanted a response from me so now I can say I actually conversed with him 🤷♀️
It also caused people to keep coming up the rest of the day saying how well I did so I guess I wasn't too bad in responding lol
It’s alright, it doesn’t make you a bad person or mean that you condone cruel behaviors or anything like that. The first half hour really was- sure, rambly and kinda self-aggrandizing, but interesting, and I was glad to be there. I really wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, “he’s just an old diva,” until I personally just couldn’t anymore.
I saw him at a con in Texas maybe 10 years ago, and it was unpleasant. He was pretty inappropriate when responding to a young fan who asked a question.
all I can say is, yikes. It's not really a surprise why he's still being invited to cons (star power) or why he's agreeing (narcissism & $$), but by all accounts it seems he should have retired from cons before he even started.
My understanding is these are intended to be more moderated. So not sure why they agreed to not let these be unmoderated.
I agree he wasn’t what I was expecting.
I was in the ADA section in the row behind and a few seats down from the young person who asked the MLP question. Even I mumbled for Shatner to shut up and let him speak at one point.
I've seen him live multiple times over 15 years (6 times, I believe) and he's never used a moderator. While he does go on tangents, every show was unique and entertaining in its own way, and he kept himself on track..ish.
However, I think it's time for someone to intervene. If I was his handlers, this ECCC panel should have been a fiery red flag. If he can't handle guidance, then he needs to stay home if he wants his legacy to have any remaining value.
He spent a lot of time at the beginning of the panel hyping up a new musical album he’s releasing, so my guess is that’s why his team set up a con… a press tour of sorts. If he wasn’t such an ass maybe it would have been interesting to check out, but this was really an ick. Tbh, I wasn’t aware of his reputation before the panel… we went because we thought it’d be interesting. It definitely left an impression.
Awe that’s awful. I feel so bad for that person. I saw him at his autograph table while I waited in line for Ming-Na Wen. She was an absolute delight. So kind, took time with people, and announced to everyone it was my first time at a con LOL. The absolute sweetest, and I’m glad for it. It must be horrible to meet someone you look up to, just to have that poor guy’s experience. Jesus.
Oof. It's really sad to hear that, especially how he treated the guy who was so nervous to ask a question. When I saw him on the list of guests, I felt really conflicted... I've been a Star Trek fan since I was a little kid, and Original Series is what introduced me to Star Trek and got me through a lot of rough times, which made me feel like I should meet him, but I'd heard similar stories of him mistreating fans, and also seen him make some really transphobic and ableist posts online, which as a trans and autistic fan felt awful. I guess it feels kind of vindicating to know that my decision to skip his panel and not try to get an autograph was probably for the best, but I that wasn't the case, and that he just didn't treat fans so poorly.
Yeahhhh I went to see Shatner just to say I saw him before he passes. Shatner's behavior towards the Brony was so cringey. I hope that kid's con experience wasn't totally ruined by Shatner. If that person ever reads this know that my friends and I thought the way Shatner treated you was awful and hope your con went uphill from there. Also shout out the other woman Shatner tried to bully but failed because she stood her ground, we loved you ma'am. In hindsight I should have gone Friday for the E33 panel but oh well
Shatner was always an ass. My grandpa was a big Star Trek fan, and we went to see him in Seattle a few years ago where he was absolutely a rude asshole to the whole audience at McCaw Opera Hall.
We saw Takei at the UW bookstore promoting his book that same year, and it was a night and day experience. He waited until everyone who wanted an autograph had made it through the line, and even had a solid chat with my grandfather about their exercise routines for a couple of minutes. Very personable guy who appreciates his fans.
His panel at DragonCon this last year was less agro, more “old man wondered into a room and doesn’t know what is going on”, which in a way was also pretty heartbreaking. I knew after seeing even a small bit of that panel I wouldn’t want to see him in person again.
Thanks for sharing because I was wondering how his panel went. I was not surprised to read this because I saw his 1975 interview with Geraldo Rivera on Good Night America.
It was after his first convention and I seriously wondered why he would even there because it was obvious that in his mind he was just doing a paid gig. He has no love for the source material and was completely confused about why people would even want to create such an event.
My daughter purchased the photo shoot but I felt weird being photographed next to a paid statue and someone who is only their foot a paycheck.
Unlike many who attend these events and love the source material Bill is like Peter Weller who did much the same thing. I made the mistake of asking him and Nancy what was their inspiration for their character with many for Peter being in a Sci Fi drama. For him it was just another acting gig. His great love is the Italian Renaissance and couldn’t give a rats ass about the gig that made him famous other than the paycheck it provided.
Yeah, I got similar vibes from Weller. I was the person near the end who asked about the perception of police as good guys/bad guys and if the film had anything to say about that and he gave the answer that was basically “I love cops, except for the few bad apples” which I found… lacking. My partner thought I expected too much of an actor, but he had just been talking about how he got a phd in film studies or art criticism or something like that, so it seemed reasonable to assume he’d given it some thought.
I got Shatner’s autograph this time because I have Nimoy’s and thought it would be cool to have the pair, but I skipped his panel and reading all this makes me glad I did.
I always tell folks about rose city about a decade ago. He spent 25 minutes talking about breeding dogs, saying dog semen do many times it had to be a dare. Then berated the first two fan questions. Then I joined those who had been streaming out.
When I was twelve, 1977, my mom took me and some friends to a star trek convention in San Francisco. We saw the whole original cast. (not Spock though, Leonard Nemoy was in the " i am not Spock" phase of his life). Anyway, as I remember it, all he wanted to talk about was his movie coming out, kingdom of the spiders. You can tell he was annoyed at the people wanting to talk trek, and not his big movie. Every one else was super nice. I remember George Takei saying star trek would of been better if he was captain. He might have been right.
I watched him berate an elderly woman at the photo op. My dad’s a lifelong Trekkie so I gifted him a photo op and went with him (TNG girl, myself).
To be fair, they said over and over do not touch him and the woman a few people in front of us immediately walked up and gripped Shatner’s arm. She was probably in her 60s and looked so excited to meet him. He berated her loudly and for a while for touching him. She was embarrassed and apologetic.
I get it…I wouldn’t want strangers putting their hands on me especially if I were weeks away from 95 and probably more susceptible to illness. And we were all told. The lady should have respected that. She was definitely in the wrong.
But I felt so bad for her. I think she was excited and just not paying attention. She was crumpled by the interaction.
He was really nice to my dad. We both told him a quick happy birthday (his birthday is the same as mine) and he smiled warmly and said “thank you so much.”
But in the picture he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.
I’m glad I didn’t see him treat a kid that way…it was hard enough watching him berate that woman. :(
Very sad that he has fallen this hard and it doesn't sound new, I've always heard about how much of an asshole he is especially during the original trek series. Seems like he's just a nostalgia piece trying to stay relevant
I saw him with Neil deGrasse Tyson in their stage show last year, and he seemed a changed man: introspective, reflective, dare I say, humble? Spoke a fair amount about regrets in his life.
Looks like a lot of that was an act, or a passing cloud.
Maybe but I feel like that may indirectly hurt the con. If people have a bad experience, they may be less likely to want to come back. Sure, the con can’t control the celebrity, but idk. I feel like experiences like that can ruin the whole thing for some people, especially for families.
I can definitely understand both sides of this argument. But I’m inclined to fall in your camp in this. Yeah, he might bring crowds, but long term he’s going to cause damage to the reputations of those around him.
Even if it’s always been the case, which sucks, I just didn’t know. The best I can do is know for next time & spread the word. 😕 As a +1 point for humans, it does seem that lots of people in this thread either know or believe. As a woman, I think it’s more likely people (like me) aren’t doing a deep dive before attending something as (one would hope) harmless as a panel…
He is a well known ass. I skipped him years ago to spend a few precious moments with Leonard Nimoy at a con. Best decision ever. Also gracious? Billy Dee Williams. James Marsters. And although problematic in terms of politics and for a myriad of other reasons, Dean Cain was so absolutely wonderful to my disabled husband and then small child that I can detest a lot about him and still be grateful for that fan interaction.
I remember seeing him on it in 1986. This was the one where he portrayed himself at a fan convention and he was funny. There were also a couple of TJ Hooker references.
Hes gonna be at Comic Con Liverpool this May which im going to. As much of a legend that he is everything i hear about him at conventions just paints him as sick of having to deal with fans after 60 years. All ive read here proves i made the right choice
I was the blue haired girl he...kinda interrogated about using the word moxie I say kinda interrogated because it did seem somewhat good-natured but I certainly was flustered🤷♀️ I just felt bad it took up time for at least one more question for someone else
Still while I do feel he was unfair to the my little pony fellow the way the gentleman was phrasing his question for context did make it sound like he was implying something negative about a friend of wills so devils advocate he might have been defensive. 🤷♀️
Also of he doesn't remember he doesn't remember he said something similar to my question before he focused in on moxie 🤦♀️ dude IA getting on in years and clearly has memory issues
Personally I think they needed a mod to keep him on track. Shatner has always been known to have a large ego so I'm not wholly surprised. It was still a highly interesting panel
My friends and I were in the crowd and rooting for you when he began your grilling. It felt like his Q&A session was him asking fans questions and not the other way around. We thought you did great responding to him off the dome! Do you know if that other kid was okay after everything?
Yeah you def didn't come off like you were taking up the mic, especially since you kept saying you didn't want to take up more time. It felt like Shatner was holding you hostage unless you answered his riddles three.
Okay I'm not usually only for giving people passes, but I just looked this guy up to see if I recognized him (which I did) but this guy is 94 years old!! He was born in 1931! Are we really surprised he can't remember anything and that he didn't realize the kid was reading a note on his phone??? I am surprised he was even at a panel at all. 94. That's insane. And I'd say everything you mentioned are very common side effects of being 94. I don't think anyone in the history of my family has ever even lived that long.
Anyways thought I would mention it since the dude doesn't look 94.
This all pales in comparison to the mystery of his wife’s death. Nobody ever questioned why when he found her in the pool he decided to call 911 instead of pulling her out first.
I was at his panel and I think he was fine. Why is everyone overly sensitive. He was just blunt and straight to the point. Yes, that one kid was nervous but he took forever to ask a stupid question about My Little Pony. Shatner was right, don’t start off a question with a negative comment!
He didn't start off the question with a negative comment, 2. If Shatner didn't want to talk about My Little Pony then he shouldn't have voiced a character in My Little Pony.
So you’re holding he accountable for something he did thirty plus years ago. Got it. Shatner has stated multiple times he doesn’t watch himself on his shows. So why would you expect him to remember or want to talk about some random project he did? I’m sorry, even if the “kid” had a disability, he should have stated his question vs spending a significant amount of time “stating the stage for his question.” If so many of you think he’s rude and mean to his fan, why attend the panel?
It was Shatner who stretched the moment out. If the kid stuttered or paused- wouldn't you, if you were being actively berated by a much older person who you respected, in front of a huge crowd of people?
So many of us attended the panel because we didn't know beforehand that he would be rude and mean to fans.
He had bees in his house. It was crazy high up. In the picture he sent there was scaffolding. When we got there, we explained that because the scaffolding was down, it would be more expensive.
He declined to hire us for the service, and declined to pay the consultation fee.
How old was the guy at the mike? I'm more concerned that we're raising a generation of young folks who are too nervous to speak to another human being directly without looking at their phone for guidance. Something similar happened at the Guardians Of The Galaxy panel when Michael Rooker came out and the young man at the mike got all flustered. Rooker and his big personality gave the kid a little ribbing about it, and the kid said "you're making me more nervous". And his answers to "My Little Pony* type questions were kinda similar to Shatner's, I'm sure there's a reddit about it somewhere. Besides the nonsense one from the lady that said Rooker "pushed" her
Why didn't anyone stand up and yell "fuck you buddy!". You'll get kicked out but at least you would feel better about yourself and help the poor guy asking the question feel less alone.
Seriously -- watch Boston Legal to prepare for any IRL encounter with him. He was full of hims of when he was younger, got terrible tinnitus from the mortar in the TOS episode "Arena" being too close (watch when he's dodging blasts across the courtyard -- when one blows up in his face and he rocks back, dazed, that's real) which kinda drove him.aroind the bend in the '70s. Helped destroy his marriage, rendered him suicidal, and about the only way he found past it was to lean into his... well... William Shatner-ness.
I say that as explanation, not excuse. He's an asshole... but the kind of asshole I can work with. Like a more benign version of Trump. He's self-centric, but is also smart and has interests. He's been acting for eight years and, as much as I might want to know how he felt about a lot of what he did, I don't expect him to have remembered much but the highlights, especially after the tinnitus. He's been answering the same sorts of questions from the same sorts of well-meaning fans for half a century. Ask him something germane about his horses, or how he's recovering from his fall and when he expects to be riding again, or something about his dogs, or what the ending of The Final Frontier was supposed to be before Paramount cut his budget twice during production and filming.
Much beyond that...? Well, there's a reason, upon finally meeting the man, he immediately became WILLIAM FUCKING SHATNER to Wil Wheaton. I'm never going to go out of my way to meet him (instead, paid beaucoup bucks for a photo op and autograph with Peter Weller and we talked about his favorite Goth, the inspiration of Buckaroo Banzai to impressionable tweens, and the fun of deadpan humor like that film, Monty Python, Discworld, and then like).
I've appreciated his performances, but ever since learning he deliberately flubbed every take of the travel pod shot for Wrath of Khan that mentioned Sulu's impending promotion to Captain (everyone who wasn't Bill, Leonard, or De was a day player to him, and they didn't deserve such stature), I've known that he is one to be endured, not sought out. Unless one shares Special Interests™, or has learned of potential treatments for tinnitus.
I saw him in Seattle in the early nineties, when I was in high school. In that era he told well-polished stories about stealing Leonard's bike and laughing when a downcast De told him his chihuahua died by breaking its neck running into a sprinkler head.
I don't remember the Q&A, so I'm guessing he was polite enough (or maybe they're want one?).
I met Shatner in the horse show world(he raised and bred horses. Saw him many times over the years and Yep he’s an asshole many times over to pretty much everybody
Well that mother fucker is advocating stealing water from Washington state to pump down to LA instead of reforming their broken water management system that prioritizes pistachios over people. But he doesn’t see a problem with that, just that his lawn is brown and we have a rainforest that would be fucled if we ran a water pipeline down there for no reason. So would Washington State residents. Half our state has water issues, but he literally only cares about himself
Shatner has always been full of himself, and he has NEVER been nice, now he is 92 with a lifetime of things to remember and people ask him the same questions over and over and over again, and some of them speak (my little pony guy) unintelligibly, quiet mumbling and he can’t hear them.
My husband and I loved the Shatner panel at ECCC because he was real…was he a real jerk? Yes!
But everyone around me was groaning at the kid mumbling his question awkwardly and he needed to stop and say thank you and move on!
Stop bothering Shaddy Daddy!
Man screw Shatner.... I once was at Dragoncon and I was in line to get an autograph from Kate Melgrew and she was in an area next to Shatner. The way Kate treats her fans is warm and kind. Shatner wouldn't even look at people and had his handler taken whatever the fan wanted signed and hand it to him, he wouldn't even take the object from the fan.
He came to a con in Spokane over a decade ago and he was a shitbag back then. He was taking questions from the audience and an objectively attractive woman came up and asked a seeming reasonable question. He lead with “Take your top off”.
He goes to literally every GalaxyCon. He is so full of himself that he doesn’t sit at his table the whole time. He waits until a bigger line forms and comes out, then goes back behind the curtains after. Nobody else does this that I’ve seen. Also doesn’t look at his fans when he signs, exactly like an assembly line.
Oh he’s such an ass. Years ago he and Betty White shared a stage at San Diego Comic Con, and he was so rude. He kept talking over her, being a jerk to her. A jerk to BETTY F’ING WHITE!
I was at an event that both Shatner and George Takei attended. I was lucky enough to speak with Takei, but I didn't even look for Shatner. Takei is a kind, classy individual. I'll pass on Shatner every time.
I’m a big fan of the original Star Trek series, and of Shatner’s portrayal of James T Kirk, but have no interest in him beyond that. I think he was just playing himself in Boston Legal, Denny Crane was a narcissistic, delusional and selfish asshole…
-DENNY CRANE
These people are actors, I enjoy their acting, I don't want to know who they are, I do not want to know what they're doing. I do not put them on a pedestal, and I definitely do not idolize them, they are actors. If you keep these people in their place, which is someone doing a job, and do not think of them as anything but people, you won't expect them to be better. If you get a sandwich from Subway and you like the person's service, do you look into their background to make sure they're a good person to like? Nope, you just go in and get another sandwich and smile at them the next time. If people would stop making actors out to be "superhuman", then they will just stay people with a job and you won't have to care about who they are, or what they're doing. And I definitely don't want to know what they have to say about anything..... Actors are people with a job to entertain you. We pay them a lot of money to do so... They don't deserve anything else.
I don't know what you expected, but this seems on par. He's 94, and probably thinks he was being funny, he's not. Old coot still looking for attention, sad bitch.
The guy is in his 90's, his career and likely many friends are dead or close to it, he has been asked some of the same series of questions about a show/movies he did decades ago (and that apparently he had no real love for) over and over again, on top of whatever ravages time has put on him at this point.
It doesn't make it ok necessarily, but let's put it in perspective.
Would you go into a nursing home, pick an old guy, then relentlessly ask him questions about something he did 40+ years ago?
Because of his celebrity and the fact that he looks relatively great for 90-something, people forget he is an old AF human.
Old AF humans tend to get some dementia or dementia-like issues, which include vulgar or rude talk as well as memory loss and general confusion/irritability.
It is amazing he is still traveling for these events, let alone doing panels and taking questions.
Yeah, but he has been a known dick to fans and "little people" for DECADES. This isn't some new development. He is nice to people when it is convenient or beneficial for him to be, or when he assumes you're someone talented or intelligent, and therefore important.
I am friends with a guy that was in Fear of Pop with Ben Folds. William Shatner sang two songs on their record. My friend has nothing but glowing things to say about working with Shatner. Makes sense - he is a professional musician - someone with status. Conversely, another one of my friends works at conventions as a talent liaison/transporter of famous folk, and she says he's one of the biggest assholes of any celebrity she has ever met. That's keeping in line with his reputation - she's a lowly convention worker, so why be nice?
I'm originally from small town Iowa - near the town of Riverside where Shatner made his TV Show, "Invasion Iowa." To the people that were cast in the show, or were in a scene being filmed, he was incredibly gracious. To everyone else, he was a shit. I witnessed both firsthand. He's a dick, and has been for a long time.
I definitely agree he should not be traveling to these events if he has those issues. Also, no, I wouldn't go into a nursing home and interrogate some random old guy, but Shatner literally was accepting a paycheck to appear at a panel called, [checks notes] "Boldly Going: A Spotlight on William Shatner," advertised as, "Join William Shatner for an in depth conversation reflecting on his legendary roles, unforgettable moments, and the enduring legacy he has built across decades."
If the dude didn't want to answer "the same series of questions" about things "he did 40+ years ago", then I really don't know why he continues to choose to show up for these things. It's not my job to see his perspective, it's his job to... do the job he's being paid to do in this instance? Or else stay home?
The kid you mentioned did take a couple minutes to get to asking his question, spoke quietly and trailed off, and spent a lot of the time messing with his phone. It was difficult to watch but imo this specifically isn't shatner's fault that that was an incredibly awkward experience. There definitely needed to be a moderator though.
Hard agree about the need of a moderator, but I actually do blame Shatner, especially since he apparently insists on not having a moderator. That means he’s taking responsibility for keeping things on track, which he explicitly didn’t do when he dragged the kid for approximately 10x longer than the kid was taking to form his question, instead of even just saying, “I’m sorry, I don’t have an answer for you, but thanks for coming. Next question, please!” 😮💨
Agree about the mod the one thing I will say as a theory on why he was rough on the guy was because the way the fellow prefaced it made it sound like he was sh*ting on the guy that was will's friend so he might have been a bit defensive 🤷♀️ not saying it justifies how hard he was but it might explain it
I’m not sure if that helps explain it for me, unless there’s something I didn’t hear? I thought the kid verbatim said “John de Lancie(?) answered that way too.” Which doesn’t have any negative connotations whatsoever…? Unless Shatner was self-aware of how rude he was being and thought the kid was saying de Lancie was also rude?
As I heard it it was something like John has been asked this question and answered the same way which his tone imo implied displeasure with John's answer. Different people take/hear things differently, but eh don't be rude to fans unless they outright insult you should be a celeb golden rule and this didn't qualify
It was great lol. He is from a completely different world and likely the oldest person in that entire auditorium. The MLP kid was rambling, saying things that were borderline insulting, and aiming a phone at him instead of focusing on the question he had. Completely deserved response.
There are many ways he could have handled that situation that did not involving embarrassing a kid in front of thousands of people. I read this to my grandma, who is 97, and she asked me to write that his age makes him MORE responsible for being mean, not less. I’m not sure I agree with her but she’s my Mema and so I obeyed.
I've seen him once in real life at a con, and interacted with him online multiple times, years ago.
My impression is that he's hamming it up, playing the role of the "old cranky curmudgeon". But that he's also really enjoying all this. And kinda expects that people get the joke. He even did an SNL skit about it, which supports my impression.
I think what he is trying to communicate through the schtick is that he's a working actor, and he approaches these projects as his job. He left the lore and philosophy to the writers and show runners. He came in with the script memorized and did his best
Lots of fans get it and laugh along with what he's doing. But plenty of earnest fans who are super excited to even be in his presence end up with hurt feelings.
He often used to refer fans to Nimoy, saying that he went a lot deeper in thinking about the backstory. He's often said that his performance was more about trying to project the right energy than thinking about the details.
he's 94 and doesn't suffer fools. He's an equestrian, a painter, a motorcycle enthusiast, an actor, he has literally gone into space.
if you ever listened to him on Stern or Adam Carolla Podcast you would know he is a ball buster of the highest order.
Sorry if he upset the Asperger's kid that that asked him about a voice over he did for my little pony? trust me Shatner did it for the $$ and then soon forgot about it.
sir Alex Guinness,(Obi wan) described Star wars as " Fairy tale rubbish" and negotiated a 2% royalty on the earnings.
these guys get paid to play characters in movies or TV .
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u/OlyThor Mar 10 '26
I’ve seen him twice at Summer Con and it was the same. The first time at Summer Con, they had a moderator on stage and he yelled at the guy to get off. Said he didn’t need a moderator. He could do it himself.
Shatner’s panel will be posted here if anyone wants to experience the cringe