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Shatner, Starr caught in Web of embarrassment on Internet
Kind of along those same lines, the last couple of weeks have shown us what a public relations disaster it can be when a celebrity posts something on the Web before fully engaging his or her brain.
In Exhibit No. 1, we have William Shatner. The former Captain Kirk went boldly into cyberspace last week to denounce his "Star Trek" co-star George Takei for not inviting him to his wedding. You'd think the healthy, adult, grown-up thing to do would have been calling Takei and venting his feelings privately. But, nah, not our Bill. The man who guided the Starship Enterprise and sang an unforgettable version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" announced to the world, "The whole thing makes me feel badly."
He continued, "Poor man. There is such a sickness there. It's so patently obvious that there is a psychosis there. I don't know what his original thing about me was. I have no idea."
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Who knows, maybe Takei was just afraid Shatner would break into a bellowing rendition of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" at the reception.
And speaking of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," Exhibit No. 2 in this rogues gallery is Ringo Starr. Earlier this month, the former Beatle huffed and puffed on his Web site, www.ringostarr.com, that he would no longer sign autographs by mail or, it would appear, even deal with fan mail anymore.
"It's going to be tossed," he said. "I'm warning you with peace and love. I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing."
After the story was widely circulated, the video was taken down (it can still be seen on YouTube, though) and a press release was issued saying that the message was not aimed at "real fans," but was "in direct response to an inordinate amount of items which have recently appeared for sale on eBay, and to those that repeatedly send cards and items to be signed."
In fairness, it was above and beyond the call for someone of Starr's stature to be signing autographs by mail in the first place. That's a pretty cool thing for a Beatle to be doing. I sent two discs and a photo to him to be signed in the 1980s, and they came back a month or two later with his signature scrawled on all three. Boy, did that make my day (and don't worry Ringo, I wouldn't dream of selling them).
You've got to admit, seeing stuff you just signed turning up on eBay would tend to ruffle your feathers. But hopping on the Web to complain about it just seems, well, not that wise. Just send the stuff back with a form letter saying, sorry, I'm not signing anything by mail anymore, and let it go at that. There's no need to shout it from the top of the mountain.
And the general prohibition against "fan mail," if that's what Starr meant, seems churlish. If someone wants to send him a note telling him how much his music means to them, he ought to welcome it.
At his concerts, Starr will sometimes jokingly grumble about how his recent albums sell relatively few copies. Doing stuff like this won't help move many units when the next one comes out.
