William Shatner blasts Dem candidate using his photo in campaign newsletter: ‘Am I clear?’

A Texas candidate learned a hard lesson in assuming Hollywood actors are always supportive of the Democratic Party.

Running for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives, candidate Brandy K. Chambers set off William Shatner when she decided to include a photo of herself with the “Star Trek” actor in a campaign newsletter.

(Image: Google images)

Writing about herself and what voters could expect from her, including being pro-gun control, pro-LGBTQ rights and believing President Trump’s “administration continues to attempt to kill democracy,” the candidate vowed she would stay true to herself.

“If that annoys or offends folks, so be it. If you think a ‘lady’ shouldn’t use the occasional profane word, then maybe I’m not the right candidate for you,” she wrote.  “If you think a grown woman going to Comic-Con and getting geeked out when she sees Captain Kirk is not what you want in a leader, that’s fine, too. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not for everybody.”

Notice of Chambers’ newsletter made its way to Shatner who set phasers to stun with a swift rebuke.

In a tweet to Chambers on Saturday, the 86-year-old actor said using the convention photo in political advertising  is “NOT ALLOWED.”

“That implies endorsement which never will happen. Please remove my photo and destroy all copies of whatever this is immediately. Am I clear?” Shatner tweeted.

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Chambers, who is running to unseat Republican Angie Chen Button in Texas’ 112th District, apologized to the actor from her personal Twitter account, explaining that it was clear there was no endorsement and that she only sought to “honor” Shatner.

But that was not good enough for the actor.

Chambers also deleted a tweet linking to the newsletter, calling the ordeal “distracting” and “stressful,” according to the Dallas Morning News.

“It never was my intention to imply that he was endorsing me,” Chambers said. “I thought it was very clear from the context of the photo that I was just trying to show I think highly of him and I’m going to be me, I’m going to [go to] comic-cons and if people have a problem with that maybe I’m not your candidate.”

She admitted the incident “was pretty upsetting to me because I was like, ‘Captain Kirk doesn’t like me.'”

Chambers remembered paying $60 or $80 for the photo taken at a comic-con in Dallas last year but did not recall any waivers or disclosures being presented or signed by her.

“If I were to ever talk about going to comic-cons again, I would make sure [it] said this is not an endorsement just to avoid this controversy,” she said.

Shatner’s tweet tagged the Twitter account for the Texas Ethics Committee, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the attorney general’s office. But the election code statute on political advertising has no mention of using a celebrity’s image in campaign materials, according to the interim executive director of the Texas Ethics Commission, the Dallas Morning News reported.

“There’s a reason why a candidate would use a picture of themselves and a celebrity in a newsletter because it might imply to someone or a reasonable person … [that] a celebrity does endorse or support that candidate,”  attorney Lawrence A. Waks said, noting the difference between personal use of a photo versus publicly using a celebrity photo.

Meanwhile, Twitter users grabbed the popcorn to see what would happen next in the showdown as Shatner and Chambers continued to defend their positions.

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