Reddit, and four other things that failed to impress William Shatner

 

Monday 11 February 2013 07:09 EST
Comments
(Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Trekkies on Reddit face divided loyalties as William Shatner, former captain of the SS Enterprise, has cast judgement on the popular forum, claiming it fosters bigotry and racism.

81-year-old Shatner - a prolific user of social media - joined the forum recently and wrote Saturday that: "I am appalled by some of the immature, horifically racist, sexist, homophobic...posts that are just ignored".

He added: "Reddit has been the first 'mainstream' site that I have been to that actually appears to allow racists and other hate mongers to congregate".

His comment has now received 2,326 upvotes - considered a good haul - and the discussion on site brings up the tempestuous topic of free speech and trolling.

Shatner is well-known for being bullish in his opinions:

On inferior sci-fi: "Star Trek had relationships and stories that involved humanity and philosophical questions. Star Wars was special effects."

On companies failing to live up to green promises: "You, HP, promised me a toxic-free computer by 2009. Now my friends at Greenpeace tell me that I'll have to wait till 2011. What's up with that?"

On fans wanting freebies: Shatner apparently charged £53 for autograph signings.

On failing to make good on urinary infection: "This takes organ donors to a new height, to a new low, maybe" said Shatner, when auctioning his kidney stone for charity. (It sold for £14,000)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in