William Shatner Defends Absence from Leonard Nimoy's Funeral - East Idaho News
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William Shatner Defends Absence from Leonard Nimoy’s Funeral

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Getty 030215 LeonardNimoyWilliamShatner?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1425326612108Amanda Edwards/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — One day after publicly saying he couldn’t make his dear friend Leonard Nimoy’s funeral because he was “doing charity work” for the Red Cross, William Shatner fired back at critics who had blasted him because of his absence.

On Sunday morning, he started on Twitter by citing a report calling Shatner a derogatory name because he missed Nimoy’s funeral.

“Let’s discuss it,” Shatner, 83, wrote. “So my daughters Melanie and Lisabeth are attending Leonard’s services. 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.”

He then took questions from fans and reporters and responded.

“Walking out on a major fundraiser wouldn’t have you calling me a jerk for leaving a charity high & dry? Hmm?” he wrote after someone questioned why he just didn’t leave the fundraiser.

He also wrote, “One of the other misconceptions seems to be that folks think flights to LAX occur all night long” and joked about the costs of a private jet from Florida, where he was with the Red Cross, to Los Angeles.

“A jet from FL to LA is about $30K,” he later wrote.

Shatner then spent some time to remember his “intelligent, insightful, just a precious gem of a” friend, who died Friday at age 83.

The one word he used to describe Nimoy was “love” and that the two were very close after Star Trek ended.

He answered fans on what kind of father he was, saying “the best. He was also an amazing uncle to my daughters.”

He closed by writing, “I do want to thank everyone for coming here and sharing their memories and celebrating the life of #LeonardNimoy LLAP! MBB,” adding about the critics, “Gang, all haters do is hate.”


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