Is Star Trek woke?
Star Trek—a franchise that famously promotes the philosophy “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations”—is being accused of “becoming” too “woke”.
Last week, White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller shared a post from the X account End Wokeness that featured a short clip from the premiere episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
The clip showed cast members Tricia Black (playing Lt. Rork), Gina Yashere (Lura Thok) and Holly Hunter (Nahla Ake). The caption read: “Star Trek 2026… Beyond parody…”
What sparked the vitriol? Three women talking.
Miller went on to describe the current state of the Star Trek franchise as “tragic” and suggested that Paramount+ should bring back 94-year-old William Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek from 1966–1969, offering him full creative control.
On Monday, Shatner responded. “I am so on the same page with you @StephenM !” he wrote on X.
“The fact that they have not cure Hyperopia by the 32rd Century is an abysmal oversight on the writers!” he joked.
The sarcasm clearly went right over Miller’s head, who followed up with another post. “Paramount screwed up royally when they decided to kill off Kirk in Star Trek Generations,” he wrote.
“@WilliamShatner disagreed strenuously but was a team player and out-acted everyone in the film. But it’s not too late for Paramount to make amends with Shatner and save the franchise,” he urged. “Do it!”
Many Star Trek fans were quick to point out Miller’s “anti-woke hero” is the same actor who famously took part in the first interracial kiss in U.S. television history, during Star Trek’s original run in the 1960s. They also pointed to Miller’s fundamental misunderstanding of the show, whose progressive values have long been light-years ahead of its time.
Fans have recently shared their concerns across Reddit forums about what Trump ally David Ellison’s takeover at Paramount might mean for the Star Trek franchise.
“Do you think the shows will continue to be liberal/socialist filled with science, diplomacy, democratic solutions, and human rights?” one user mused. “Will they devolve into combat based popcorn fair? Will they straight up become positive analogs for the current administration? Or racial allegories in the bad way?
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, created by Gaia Violo, premiered last week on Paramount+. It has since become the target of review bombing from those accusing a show about aliens of being “too woke.”
Earlier in the month, Elon Musk also shared a post featuring the same clip. He wrote: “Turns out they banned Ozempic and LASIK in the future lol.”
Actress Tricia Black responded on Instagram with the caption, “I’ve seen this exact same comment probably 100 times already so whatever but it’s nuts that the richest man in [the world] felt the need to steal the joke. It doesn’t get to me because I am comfortable in my skin most days but this one made me laugh.”
She then quoted the show’s original creator, Gene Roddenberry, who famously said: “Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms.”