Andy Weir Walks Back STAR TREK Comments With Direct Apology to Alex Kurtzman
Things got a little heated in the sci-fi corner of the internet recently regarding Star Trek, and now Andy Weir is setting the record straight.
The Project Hail Mary author has now publicly apologized on Facebook to Alex Kurtzman, the executive producer overseeing the current era of Star Trek, after some sharp comments he made during an appearance on the Critical Drinker podcast started making the rounds.
Weir didn’t dodge it. In a candid open letter, he owned the tone of what he said and how it landed.
“I was trying to be funny, but in retrospect it comes off as disrespectful and mean.”
According to Weir, the clips that circulated didn’t fully reflect what he intended. He explained that his remarks were “taken out of context as salacioius sound bytes” and insisted he “was trying to be self-deprecating.”
That said, the original comments were hard to ignore.
While discussing his experience pitching a show within the Star Trek universe, Weir revealed that he had direct conversations with Kurtzman and the creative team but ultimately didn’t get the green light. That led to a blunt, and now infamous, take:
“And here’s another thing: I pitched a Star Trek show to Paramount and I was on Zoom with the showrunners with all the shows and spent a lot of time talking to [Kurtzman].
“He, as a person, is a really nice guy. But at the same time, those shows are st. He is a nice guy, but they didn’t accept my pitch so, you know, f*ck ’em.”
In his apology, Weir made sure to emphasize that his respect for Kurtzman as a person never changed, writing that he also stressed “how much I like you as a person and what a nice guy you are.”
He even extended an olive branch with a pretty down-to-earth offer:
“Anyway, if you want to talk about it in real time – even if it’s just to rip me a new one – I’m happy to hop on the phone or zoom.”
The situation didn’t just stay between those two. Author Don Winslow, known for Crime 101, was among those who pushed back on Weir’s earlier remarks, adding more fuel to the discussion online.
All of this comes at a time when Weir is riding high off the success of Project Hail Mary, which made a strong impact as a non-franchise sci-fi hit.
The film adaptation, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and starring Ryan Gosling, has been a major win for Amazon MGM Studios, pulling in impressive numbers and proving original sci-fi can still draw a crowd.
So now things seem to be cooling off. Weir said his piece, owned the misstep, and left the door open for a real conversation.
Whether Kurtzman takes him up on that offer is another story, but at least for now, the drama has shifted from phasers to apologies.