Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner

Late last week we heard the sad news that iconic actor Leonard Nimoy had passed away at 83 after a long battle with COPD. The world mourned the loss of a great actor and man who had become a part of so many of our childhoods. Tributes poured in from celebrities, from President Obama, and even from space.

After Nimoy passed, many people wondered how his longterm co-star and old friend, William Shatner, was doing. Shatner, 83, tweeted that he was “feeling awful” and that he would not be able to make it to Nimoy’s funeral on Sunday morning. Shatner had to honor a previous commitment to attend a charity event for The Red Cross in Florida on Saturday night. Yesterday Shatner spent time on Twitter interacting with fans and answering questions about Nimoy. He gave some touching answers. Then, when he got flack for missing Nimoy’s funeral, he sort-of admitted that he couldn’t afford the $30k it would have cost him to take an earlier, chartered flight back to LA. He got a bit defensive, but I can’t blame him, especially after the NY Daily News ran a cover story about him with the headline “Captain Jerk.” Here are some tweets from Shatner:

I am currently in FL as I agreed to appear at the Red Cross Ball tonight. Leonard’s funeral is tomorrow. I can’t make it back in time.

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) February 28, 2015

I feel really awful. Here I am doing charity work and one of my dearest friends is being buried. — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) February 28, 2015

I chose to honor a commitment I made months ago to appear at a charitable fundraiser. A lot of money was raised. So here I am; tell me off. — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) March 1, 2015

“@NYDailyNews: An early look at tomorrow’s front page. http://t.co/ZDjADxLW48 pic.twitter.com/ijdwAwDw14” I want to share this. Let’s discuss it

— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) March 1, 2015

Shatner then answered fan questions and described what a loving, thoughtful friend Nimoy was and how he loved the arts and photography. You can see those tweets on his timeline and here are individual links to some. It was a fitting way to honor his late friend, and I thought Shatner explained himself well. He also said that his two daughters were attending Nimoy’s funeral.

Later Shatner got in a twitter war with radio talk show host Todd Schnitt, who asked him why he didn’t take a private jet to the funeral. Schnitt tweeted, after it was too late to have helped, that “if money is an issue for you, I would have paid for your flight.” Shatner retorted that he “must have missed your email about underwriting the arrangement and payment for this.” Then Schnitt wrote he would make a donation to the Red Cross instead, after which Shatner called him out for not donating the $30k a jet would have cost.

Ultimately Shatner landed in LA yesterday at around 11:30, two and a half hours after Nimoy’s service was held. The Daily News claims he could have either chartered a jet or flew out of Miami an hour south to catch a flight that would have landed him in LA at 9:45. I doubt it’s as easy to charter a private flight as the News makes it sound, and even the earlier flight would have made him significantly late.

Shatner is also 83 years old. He spent a lot of time on Twitter honoring his late friend’s memory, and he made the choice to also honor a charity commitment he had made. I’m sure that Nimoy would have understood.

duos 271108

Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner

Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy dies at 83
Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner
William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
duos 271108
Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner
William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy

photo credit: WENN.com