Star Trek’s George Takei fools the internet with story of being an Olympic torchbearer in 2021
George Takei holds the Olympic torch - but no, not that one. Image George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) on Twitter
Star Trek actor and social media influencer George Takei has pulled an April Fools’ Day joke that even some of Trek’s most notable names fell for. Yesterday morning, he posted a picture on Twitter, of himself holding an Olympic torch. He captioned the photo, “I'm excited to announce some big news. I'm honored beyond belief to have been selected to be the final torchbearer to light the Olympic Flame in Tokyo in 2021! This will be such a unique moment, before the eyes of the world, lighting the torch as a symbol of hope for the future!”
The photo was retweeted thousands of times in short order, including by Star Trek: Picard actor Jonathan Del Arco, who said, “Awww George congratulations”. Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp also chimed in, saying, “WOW! Congratulations!!!!!”
Sadly, Takei admitted later in the day that the announcement was a joke. He retweeted himself, saying, “Yes, friends, I'm afraid this was an April Fools prank, a bit of levity in an otherwise dark time. And while I’ll not be lighting that fire myself, my eyes will look upon it as a symbol of our triumph over this invisible foe and a reuniting of the global community.”
Yes, friends, I'm afraid this was an April Fools prank, a bit of levity in an otherwise dark time.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) April 1, 2020
And while I’ll not be lighting that fire myself, my eyes will look upon it as a symbol of our triumph over this invisible foe and a reuniting of the global community. https://t.co/JedX85pbH4
The Tokyo Summer Olympics were due to take place this year, but on March 21st, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach announced that the games would move back to 2021 due to concerns over coronavirus. The Olympic torch relay, which traditionally starts in the spring of a summer Olympic Games year, did in fact start in Greece on March 12th, according to Wikipedia. However, the lighting ceremony in Olympia and the first handover in Athens were unattended by the public. The flame did go on to visit a few locations in Japan before settling in Fukushima Prefecture, where it will stay for the month of April. Videos from the lighting and the first handover have been published on the Tokyo 2020 website at tokyo2020.org, as is the original schedule for the torch relay. However, there’s no indication what organizers will do with the flame after April, or when or how next year’s relay will take place.
As for Takei, he’s well-known for pulling April Fools’ Day pranks - remember when he announced he was running for Congress in 2017? On the plus side, while Takei apparently didn’t get the memo that April Fool’s Day was cancelled this year, his fans seemed to mostly take it in good humor.
