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William Shatner Gets in Heated Twitter Debate About Millennials, Goes After Specific Users

William Shatner engaged in a heated Twitter argument on Wednesday after calling out a Twitter user […]

William Shatner engaged in a heated Twitter argument on Wednesday after calling out a Twitter user for using the increasingly popular internet insult, “OK boomer.” It all began when Shatner replied to a tweet from Dancing With the Stars host Tom Bergeron, who was in the midst of an argument with a fan saying Bergeron issued “constant jabs” at Season 28 contestant Sean Spicer.

When Bergeron asked for proof from the Twitter troll, Shatner retweeted his message, commiserating with the host over “trolls who are so brave that they make unsubstantiated statements.” A user asked Shatner to “send details,” to which he sardonically replied, “G-O-O-G-L-EC-O-M,” with a rolling eyes emoji.

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It was that point when another user wrote, “OK Boomer,” which has been used by millennials and Gen Z members to poke fun at baby boomers on the internet. But the Star Trek actor took it as the exact opposite.

“Sweetheart, that’s a compliment for me,” he wrote with a kissy face emoji, going on to rail against the “childish insult” that he said “affects the delicate types to the point they meltdown.”

“If the person posting it thinks they are making a dig; they are the fools,” he wrote.

After Twitter user and aspiring actress, Courtney DeCamp, defended the usage of “OK boomer,” Shatner called her out. After a back-and-forth in which DeCamp called herself “not a millennial,” Shatner apparently looked up what year she graduated high school, telling her “that puts your birthday in the years that define millennials. Are you ashamed to be one?”

The back-and-forth continued, with Shatner saying that it “seems like you are trying to pretend you agree with [millennials] but are part of some other group.”

When she asked Shatner why he was “so offended by a phrase that can’t possibly pertain to you,” as he was born well before the baby boom, Shatner said he’d “wear that badge with honor.”

“Unlike you; the generations designation doesn’t define me nor am I too worried about getting labeled because it makes no difference to me. You seemed to be obsessed; blaming other gens. Some millennials are pushing 40. You aren’t kids,” he wrote.

When someone responded to Shatner that he was only giving internet trolls attention, he wrote, “Her bio says she’s an actress. No production wants someone who blames their situation on everyone else. That’s Divaesque. She entitled to her opinion but she isn’t doing herself any favors by pretending she’s siding with millennials while pretending she’s not one.”

Shatner made headlines in December 2018 when he characterized the Me Too movement as “hysterical” while defending the controversial holiday song “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” At the time, he called on his fans to request CBC radio to play the song after the network said it had no plans to play it that holiday season.

Defending his views in a DailyMailTV interview, he said that the Me Too movement “is great” but said the song should be judged by the context it was written in.

“I’ve got three daughters and I’m glad that they have more opportunity. At the same time, [the Me Too movement has] become hysterical,” Shatner said. “It’s a whole new culture. The whole business has changed. The whole man-woman relationship has changed to a severe degree.”

Photo credit: Santiago Felipe / Contributor / Getty