SCIFI AUTHOR David Gerrold, from his Facebook profile.

Author David Gerrold has repudiated a derogatory quote about me attributed to him by Axanar producer Alec Peters in order to discredit AxaMonitor‘s coverage.

In the 3,969-member public Facebook group Star Trek, Peters criticized AxaMonitor‘s coverage of CBS' shutdown of the Star Trek–Horizon‘s sequel this way:

Let’s be clear, the writer of that article, Cqarols [sic] Pedraza has a hard on for Axanar and does whatever he can to bash Axanar. He is neither a journalist nor a truth-seeker. He is also someone that David Gerrodl [sic] called a man “With credits and no credential.”¹⁾

Peters may not know that David Gerrold and I have been friends for 13 years (we collaborated on the teleplay for the Star Trek: New Voyages episode, “Blood and Fire”), so I was alarmed to hear something like this attributed to him.

Naturally, I reached out to David to inquire about the quote. Here’s what he told me:

Alec and I were talking about a different project. We were talking about writers we knew and writers we’d trust.

A number of names came up. I was particularly candid about one self-inflated fanboy who had demonstrated inordinate rudeness to myself and other writers. Apparently, Alec was distracted — there were some phone calls in there — and didn’t realize that I was talking about someone else.

It was supposed to be a private conversation anyway, and Alec should not have repeated the remark, and he should not have badmouthed anyone, particularly you, Carlos, and then attributed it to me.

I’ve had people attach my name to rumor, gossip, and lies before – it’s one of the things that really pisses me off.

You may quote me.²⁾ [emphasis added]

It’s a shame that, rather than engaging the Axanar controversy, and our coverage of it, with facts, Peters continues to choose ad hominem attacks, grasping at whatever flimsy authority he can to bolster his attempt to discredit and deflect valid criticism by maligning the character of critics.

David also told me he would address the misattribution of his words directly with Peters, which I imagine led to this post the following day:

I have asked to remove my previous comment about Carlos Pedraza that was attributed to David Gerrold. David has indicated he was referring to another writer. That comment was said to me in private and I should not have repeated it here.³⁾

As further indication of Peters’ unwillingness to engage on the facts, I had to rely on friends for the links to Peters’ posts to that Facebook group because (surprise!) he had me blocked from the page. So, all in all, a fantastic apology.

UPDATE Peters edited his original post to strike out the portion indicated below. The rest of his invective remains:

Let’s be clear, the writer of that article, Cqarols [sic] Pedraza has a hard on for Axanar and does whatever he can to bash Axanar. He is neither a journalist nor a truth-seeker. He is also someone that David Gerrodl [sic] called a man “Wiith credits and no credential.”⁴⁾

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