NewsT. Rick JonesWilliam Shatner

After 36 years, DNA test finally proves that Florida man is not William Shatner’s son

NewsT. Rick JonesWilliam Shatner
After 36 years, DNA test finally proves that Florida man is not William Shatner’s son
William Shatner speaks at Star Trek Las Vegas (2019)

William Shatner speaks at Star Trek Las Vegas (2019)

DECEMBER 11, 2020 - A Florida man has given up on his claim that William Shatner is his long-lost biological father, after a campaign spanning 36 years. A piece from The Miami Herald earlier this month highlighted the reporting of the Tampa Bay Times, which laid out the circumstances of the curious case. 

63-year-old Peter Shatner - who changed his surname last year from his original name of Sloan - was adopted as an infant, but in 1984, his biological mother told him that his father was one of two men, and likely to be Star Trek’s Shatner. Peter Shatner has spent the time since trying to convince Shatner the elder to take a DNA test, the efforts of which, the Tampa Bay Times says, were “rebuffed time and again”.

While the story of Peter Shatner’s efforts has plenty of twists and turns, the end of the story comes from Ancestry.com, and as a result of his decision 11 years ago to try and leverage the website’s DNA-matching service. Earlier this year, it matched him with the children of a man called Benjamin Freedman, who he later confirmed to be his true biological father. Not William Shatner after all. “I will change my name again obviously,” he said.

As for William Shatner, he has been consistently dismissive of Shatner the younger’s claim. As a full stop to the conversation, he retweeted Miami Herald journalist Madeleine Marr last week, when she said, “Billie Jean is not my lover. And this guy isn't @WilliamShatner 's son”, linking to her article. Shatner said in reply, “It is my opinion that this entire situation was created out of a single goal: money.”

For his part, Peter Shatner, in the Tampa Bay Times piece, said, “It was never about wanting his money and I always made it clear I would renounce any inheritance in exchange for a DNA test. If you are not adopted, you could never understand. I had to know who I am.”