William Shatner mocks ‘woke’ accusations against canceled ‘Star Trek’ series

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The Hill's Headlines — March 25, 2026

The Hill's Headlines — March 25, 2026

William Shatner says he feels “sorrow” over the cancellation of the latest “Star Trek” series, and he is hitting back against critics who called it “woke.”

“Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” will be ending its run following its second season, CBS Studios and Paramount+ told Variety in a Monday statement that praised the show’s cast and production team for pushing “storytelling boundaries in the spirit of [“Star Trek” creator] Gene Roddenberry’s vision.”

While lauded by many critics, the series faced some backlash from viewers after premiering in January. Some social media and YouTube users accused the series of being too “woke.”

Shatner, who played Captain Kirk on the original TV series and “Star Trek” films, wrote in a Monday message on X, “Star Trek exists in more than one world. It exists in the fantasy of science fiction — weird and wonderful things that play unimaginable possibilities of exploration and human endeavor.”

“But it also exists in the fantasy of human beings, the perfection of human beings, the exploration that human beings have made since the dawn of time and the continuing exploration — physically mentally and morally,” Shatner, 95, wrote.

“I for one would love to see its continuity. It’s with sorrow that I hear about the cancellation of the new Star Trek series,” Shatner said in the post to his 2.4 million followers.

He then cited his on-screen interracial kiss with Black actor Nichelle Nichols on the show in 1968.

“During the first airing of my Star Trek series where a kiss was objectionable; many southern stations pulled the episode & condemned the show,” Shatner said.

“Using today’s vernacular it would absolutely be called ‘woke DEI crap’ because it went against ‘norms’ of society for its time,” Shatner said.

“Not a lot seems to have changed,” he said. 

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