After revealing that Paramount had rejected his pitch for a Star Trek TV series in an interview on the Critical Drinker podcast—and declaring most of current Trek architect Alex Kurtzman’s output with the franchise “shit”—Project Hail Mary author Andy Weir has apologized to the producer, claiming his commentary on the franchise has been taken out of context.
“I feel like my quotes were taken out of context as salacious sound bytes,” Weir posted in a message to Facebook, headlining his post as an open letter to Alex Kurtzman. “I hope you saw the other parts where I said how much I like you as a person and what a nice guy you are. Also how I like [Strange New Worlds] and [Lower Decks].”
Weir’s comments came in response to the author and host Will Jordan gleefully acknowledging the recent cancellation of Starfleet Academy (“I think we can probably safely never talk about it again,” Jordan said of the series before Weir cheerfully added, “It’s gone, baby! It’s all gone”) and Jordan’s own belief that every modern Star Trek show should be removed from the series’ canon, with Weir offering what was, in contrast, a more diplomatic take.
“You’re a little more severe than I am—I’ll give you my opinion, and I’m just a consumer. I like Strange New Worlds. I think it’s pretty good. I didn’t hate Enterprise. I thought it was kind of weird. Lower Decks, I thought, was entertaining and fun. All the others, they can go,” Weir said.
But it’s more what Weir said afterwards that sparked backlash. “And here’s another thing: I pitched a Star Trek show to Paramount, and I was in Zoom with the showrunners with all the shows and spent a lot of time talking to [executive producer Alex Kurtzman],” the writer continued. “I don’t like a lot of the new Trek. He, as a person, is a really nice guy. But at the same time, those shows are shit. He is a nice guy.”
“I was trying to be funny, but in retrospect it comes off as disrespectful and mean. So I’m sorry for that. I was also trying to be self-deprecating when I said ‘But they didn’t like my pitch so fuck ’em!’ but out of context it can read like I actually meant it,” Weir’s apology continued.
“I’m a blunt person—always have been. And it’s been 10 years since the media cared what I had to say about anything so I kind of forgot to watch my words when I have a film in theaters,” Weir concluded, before offering Kurtzman the chance to talk to him about his comments in private. “In a couple months I’ll be back in my cave writing novels and no one will care again.”
When Weir’s commentary began emerging over the weekend—as well as past comments he had made in a 2018 interview about his disbelief in the “presumed ‘responsibility'” within Star Trek to discuss social issues—it sparked a wave of backlash, mostly for the tone Weir believes has been taken out of context.
At the very least, Weir has learned to maybe choose his words a bit more carefully when he’s coming off the back of one of the big Hollywood success stories of the year so far. And who knows? Maybe it’s enough for Paramount to hear him out again whenever the studio decides to commission more Trek on TV again.
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