What Did Andy Weir Say About 'Star Trek' Before Apologizing to Alex Kurtzman?

Andy Weir has Trekkies side-eyeing him after the Project Hail Mary and The Martian author criticized much of modern Star Trek on the Critical Drinker podcast.

Andy’s connection to Star Trek is not some random drive-by opinion, either. He has described himself as a longtime fan, and on the podcast, he said his Gen X sci-fi roots came from watching original-series Star Trek reruns before later getting into The Next Generation.

In earlier comments, he also called himself a “lifelong Star Trek fan,” which explains why his remarks hit a nerve with fans already heated over his take.

Andy said he pitched a Star Trek show to Paramount and spent time on Zoom with Alex Kurtzman and other people behind the franchise. During the podcast, he said he liked Strange New Worlds, thought Lower Decks was “entertaining and fun,” and said he did not hate Enterprise. However, he also dismissed much of the rest of the current lineup.

“You’re a little more severe than I am — I’ll give you my opinion, and I’m just a consumer. I like Strange New Worlds. I think it’s pretty good. I didn’t hate Enterprise. I thought it was kind of weird. Lower Decks, I thought, was entertaining and fun. All the others, they can go,” Andy said.

The writer also talked about Alex personally, versus the shows themselves. He said Alex was “a really nice guy,” but then trashed the newer series and followed that up with a bitter crack about his failed pitch.

“And here’s another thing: I pitched a Star Trek show to Paramount, and I was in Zoom with the showrunners with all the shows and spent a lot of time talking to [executive producer Alex Kurtzman],” Andy continued. “I don’t like a lot of the new Trek. He, as a person, is a really nice guy. But at the same time, those shows are s--t. He is a nice guy. But they didn’t accept my pitch, so, you know, f--k ’em.”

Yes, Andy did apologize. After crime novelist Don Winslow publicly said Andy owed Alex one, Andy posted an open letter on Facebook on March 30. He said he tried to be funny but admitted the remarks came off as “disrespectful and mean.”

“Hey, Alex. Andy Weir here. I'm posting to apologize about stuff I said on the Critical Drinker's podcast. I feel like my quotes were taken out of context as salacious sound bytes,” Andy wrote. “I hope you saw the other parts where I said how much I like you as a person and what a nice guy you are. Also how I like SNW and LD. I was trying to be funny, but in retrospect it comes off as disrespectful and mean. So I'm sorry for that."

As for Alex, there was no public response. According to Entertainment Weekly, representatives for Paramount and Alex did not immediately respond to a request for comment.