Star Trek’s William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy’s feud “sad and unfortunate”

Leonard Nimoy’s son said he knows why his late father stopped speaking to Star Trek co-star William Shatner in the years before his death.

Both men played legendary characters in the Star Trek franchise, with Shatner’s Captain Kirk leading the crew of the starship Enterprise over three seasons on television in the 1960s and seven Star Trek films. Leonard Nimoy played Kirk’s second-in-command, Spock, for almost 50 years.

In January 2014, Nimoy revealed he had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and on February 25, 2015, he died of complications from the disease. Unfortunately, Nimoy and Shatner had a falling out before he died.

During an interview with Page Six about his new book, “The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy,” Adam Nimoy shared his insight into the two men’s long-standing feud.

Newsweek emailed Shatner’s publicist and Adam Nimoy for further comment on Monday.

“I know why,” Adam Nimoy said about the reason for the feud, before saying he plans to “let sleeping dogs lie.

“It’s unfortunate, it’s sad, you know but it is what it is, you know. There’s nothing we can do about it, nothing I could have done about it, and uh, and I love Bill.

“But they had a very, you know—I can say, I will say, that they had a very challenging relationship themselves. Although there was a period of time when they were really beautifully, I think, together.”

Adam Nimoy went on to say that he and his sister had heard stories about the two actors arguing while on the Star Trek set, so they were shocked when Leonard Nimoy referred to his former co-star as his “best friend” in a biography.

“Julie and I were scratching our heads like … you’ve knocked heads with Bill, all your professional life,” he said.

“And now they had some reconciliation and it was beautiful, but it just didn’t. They just couldn’t sustain it. And that’s unfortunate.”

Just days after Leonard Nimoy’s death, Shatner took to X, formerly Twitter, to express his grief, writing on February 27, 2015: “I loved him like a brother. We will all miss his humor, his talent, and his capacity to love.”

The former Boston Legal star didn’t attend Leonard Nimoy’s funeral, saying he had a prior charity commitment to fulfill—a Red Cross fundraiser at Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago.

In his 2016 book, “Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man,” Shatner revealed that he and Nimoy were not on speaking terms for the last five years of his life. Shatner also theorized that the feud could be because he filmed Nimoy for the Star Trek-related documentary without his permission, but this hasn’t been confirmed or denied.

Then in his 2020 memoir, “Live Long And…: What I Might Have Learned Along the Way,” Shatner went into more detail about the friendship fallout and the funeral.

“It was made clear to me that I was not welcome at his funeral. That was painful,” he wrote. “I had an easy excuse. My closest friend was Leonard Nimoy. We were born four days apart and raised in Orthodox Jewish homes. We shared so much throughout our careers. I loved Leonard, and he used to refer to me as his brother.

“Yet at the end of his life, and for reasons I still don’t know, he was not my friend. I would call him and he wouldn’t answer the phone or return any messages. He died and I didn’t feel welcome at his funeral.”

When Shatner spoke to Entertainment Tonight in October 2022, he claimed he didn’t know the real reason behind the rift.

“I don’t know what happened. He wouldn’t answer my calls, I wrote him a heartfelt letter saying how much I loved him and I wished him well, because he was dying. I wanted to see him, and I am hurt, and so, devastated,” he said.

However, some comfort came from Nimoy’s daughter Julie, whom Shatner said reached out to say her father had loved him.

Shatner added: “Somebody said they’ve known people who got ill and didn’t want to see anyone, because they were ill, and I’d like to say that was the reason.”