That Time William Shatner Joked About The Earth Being Flat After Becoming The Oldest Person To Go Into Space
William Shatner finally had the opportunity to see space for himself decades after playing James T. Kirk in Star Trek, and it was way darker and sadder than he imagined. His experience had a profound impact on how he sees the world, even though he didn’t witness space until his 90s, and he continues to talk about it to this day. Despite the sadness of observing the pale blue dot, his humor remains intact, as the actor humorously joked about the Earth being flat in a recent interview.
Seeing as space enthusiasts can’t ask Shatner if he’ll be appearing in any upcoming Trek projects, the actor revealed in an interview on The Other Side Of Midnight a group approached him with a specific inquiry about the Earth and proceeded to deliver his findings to the host. By the way, it should be noted that his tone here is entirely sarcastic:
I was asked by the Flat Earth group to say something about whether the Earth was flat. And I have been around it, and my opinion is that the Earth is flat. Just so few people want to believe it. It’s flat. I’ve been there…They wanted to know whether the sun was a planet and if anyone was living there. There are things, entities living on the sun, sending out rays that warm our planet…I better not go any further.
The oldest person to ever be in space still has jokes, though I doubt it will stop any conspiracy that everyone who has been to space is lying. That said, some might be inclined to believe William Shatner more than others, considering he’s not shy about sharing any unpopular opinions about Star Trek. The actor famously said the new era of shows would have creator Gene Roddenberry “turning in his grave,” but later clarified to CinemaBlend he was referring to romantic relationships.
Shatner continued to talk about the space conspiracy theorist further, speaking as an actor who is used to hearing strange space ideas. He’s also hosting a show on Fox Nation called Aliens Among Us, so I can imagine he gets these types of questions a lot:
It’s so bizarre. You deal with it all the time. I only on occasion make these forays into the madness that some people want to believe. The Flat Earth people. I’m sure you’ve heard of them. It’s bizarre.
While William Shatner isn’t in support of any fringe theories on the shape of the Earth, he has embraced other forms of technology that might encourage some to think he’d entertain the idea. Shatner is on the record stating that he is in support of having his likeness recreated with artificial intelligence, assuming he or his living family members are paid for doing so once he is gone.
The actor has spent his days traveling to conventions and embarking on endeavors like space travel rather than watching his old Star Trek episodes with a Paramount+ subscription. In fairness, the actor has gone the bulk of his career without watching the majority of his performances as Captain Kirk, so I don’t blame him for not trying to play catch-up now in the later stages of his life. Traveling to space to experience the real thing might be a little more enjoyable than hunkering down for a binge of Trek, but honestly, it’d be a toss-up for me.
Getting to space is difficult, but watching William Shatner on Star Trek is not. Check out episodes of the original series as well as his movies on Paramount+, but don’t expect to see episodes about the Earth being flat.
