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George Takei, best known for playing Sulu on "Star Trek," has experienced a career resurgence thanks to his outspoken advocacy of gay rights and his hilarious, timely Facebook posts. The 76-year-old actor has more than 4.1 million Facebook followers who look forward to his clever thoughts on issues of the day, but many fans were disappointed to learn last week that Takei paid a ghost writer to to pen his jokes.
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The news came to light when comedy writer Rick Polito admitted to writing "funny lines" for Takei at $10 a joke in a recent interview with Jim Romenesko.
Takei brushed aside criticism in an email to Wired last week:
What is this hoo-ha about my FB posts? I have Brad, my husband, to help me and interns to assist. What is important is the reliability of my posts being there to greet my fans with a smile or a giggle every morning. That’s how we keep on growing.
Polito responded to the mini-controversy in another email to Romenesko.
"I wrote an apology to George and Brad and their guy said he’d pass it on. I just said that I’d been looking for any mention of my book I could get and that I hadn’t meant to expose anything," Polito said.
“I don’t update his page. I’ve had no direct contact with George. I’ve sent him some memes, as have other comedian types and I was happy for the exposure," he added.
