William Shatner explains why he chose to skip Leonard Nimoy’s funeral

William Shatner explains why he chose to skip Leonard Nimoy’s funeral

Shatner chose to "celebrate life" by attending a charity event during Nimoy's funeral service.

Leonard Nimoy was made famous for portraying the hyper-logical second-in-command to William Shatner’s Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek TV series and in six movies, but Shatner was noticeably absent from his former castmate’s funeral. The New York Daily News called Shatner out for his apparent lack of compassion by labeling him “Captain Jerk” in the newspaper’s Sunday edition, but Shatner is now explaining that he chose to skip the funeral to “celebrate life.”

Shatner told Inside Edition on Monday that he skipped Nimoy’s funeral to attend a Red Cross Ball in Florida, and that while he wasn’t physically present at the service, he made sure to pay his respects in his own way.

“My understanding is mourn the dead but celebrate life,” said the 83-year-old actor. “I chose to celebrate life by going to the Red Cross gathering in Palm Beach, raised a lot of money for the Red Cross.”

The iconic Star Trek captain asked the Red Cross gala attendees to take a moment to remember Nimoy and Maurice Hurley, a writer and producer for Star Trek: The Next Generation who died last Tuesday at age 75 by doing good deeds which “will be remembered long after any other kind of memorial.” Among the attendees at the $1,000-per-plate Mar-a-Lago Club Red Cross event were Donald Trump, Wayne Newton and Shirley MacLaine.

“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,” Shatner said on Twitter, before revealing that his daughters Melanie and Lisabeth planned to attend Nimoy’s funeral in his absence.

Shatner proved to critics that Nimoy is still very much in his mind by tweeting his approval of a viral movement to draw Spock eyebrows, ears and bangs on Canadian currency on Monday, writing that the mass defacing of the Canadian $5 bill “warms his heart.”

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