Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: Brent Spiner, elon musk, star trek, Star Trek Picard, Terry Matalas, william shatner

Star Trek IV: The Wrath of William Shatner Zings Twitter Over Hacks

William Shatner couldn't help but take another jab at Elon Musk's Twitter and its questionable security impacting Star Trek actors' accounts.

Published Wed, 05 Apr 2023 07:53:12 -0500

by Tom Chang

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You can't fault William Shatner for being an opportunist, no matter how low the low-hanging fruit is especially given his expertise in two subjects: Star Trek and Twitter. Capitalizing on the latest victim of Twitter hackers, the former captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise quote tweeted Picard showrunner Terry Matalas revealing the platform's latest victim in actor Brent Spiner. "I haven't been around for a while, and I just want to say that clearly…clearly, I've been hacked," the actor told fans in a video. "I don't…probably will not be around for a little while, but I want you to know that's not me on my page" before promoting his Next Generation reprisal as Data on the Paramount+ series. The camera then pans to his co-star and also hacking victim Jonathan Frakes, who plays Captain Riker, offering the simple Vulcan gesture of "Live long and prosper."

Star Trek: William Shatner's Issue with Twitter's Verification Update — Image: Paramount Global Screencap / SNL Screencap

Star Trek's Shatner Wants His Free TV and Apple Watch

"You mean I'm not getting my 80" TV and free Apple Watch?" Shatner deadpanned in his tweet. In the case of Star Trek: Voyager star Roxann Dawson. the hacker peddled PlayStation 5s. Thankfully, all the accounts are finally restored in a cyber happy ending. The latest snark from Shatner was his latest jab at CEO Elon Musk, trying to keep Twitter profitable by refining his Twitter Blue subscription service, incentivizing users with expanded features to curb bot accounts, and shifting once-free features like two-factor authentication to the service.

Musk's desperation might be in part due in part to how his new verification system is mercilessly being mocked by critics online, including Shatner pointing out the obvious and subsequent refusal to jump through the billionaire conglomerate's hoops. "That would be wonderful in a perfect [world] where equality thrives. Yet that's not reality, is it? Somewhere, Twitter lost its way. Blue [check]s were guardrails to legitimacy, not meaningless status symbols. Twitter does [prohibit sign] to stop a @WlLLlAMSHATNER (4 Ls) from being verified with a [credit card]…" Shatner wrote. "So while those are nice sentiments my friend; you already know each & every celebrity, gvt agency & well known person who are verified. The $7/mo "equality" claim seems like a money grab.[fingers pointing up, to the right] There's nothing wrong with money grabs if you are clear upfront. You aren't. [winking face]"