William Shatner's beef with Aldi: Star Trek actor, 95, criticises supermarket's accounting team in 'surreal' message after Essex radio star complained they sent his son an 'intimidating' letter about owing the business £97

Hollywood star William Shatner has criticised Aldi's accounting team after a British DJ accused the supermarket of threatening his son with debt recovery for £97 in overpaid wages.Chris Brooks, from Essex, couldn't believe that the 95-year-old Star Trek actor - who lives in Los Angeles - 'got involved' in the dispute after he posted a copy of the store's 'intimidating' letter on X earlier this week.The message was addressed to Chris's son Samuel and asked him to repay £97 after he was 'overpaid by 13 hours' in August, failing which his details would be forwarded to a debt recovery centre.Chris condemned the supermarket for 'threatening him', claiming the letter was the first time Samuel found out about the error. He also highlighted that Aldi sent the letter on September 30, two weeks after the repayment deadline, adding: 'You made the mistake, not him.'The viral post caught Shatner's attention as the Canadian actor suggested Aldi's payroll department 'does not know how to count or use a calendar' and that its CEO should 'figure out how much the company spent sending this letter'.Chris later thanked Shatner for his message and clarified that they had 'no problem' paying the money back, noting it was 'slightly surreal' that the award-winning star had taken the time to retweet his complaint.Social media users were just as baffled by Shatner's message, as one person wrote: 'What a strange parallel universe we live on when Captain Kirk gets involved in an overpayment dispute with Aldi UK.' Hollywood star William Shatner criticised Aldi's accounting team after a British RJ accused the UK supermarket of threatening his son with debt recovery for £97 in overpaid wagesChris Brooks, from Essex, couldn't believe that the 95-year-old Star Trek actor - who lives in Los Angeles - 'got involved' in the dispute after he posted a copy of Aldi's 'intimidating' letter on X earlier this weekOn Monday, Radio Essex presenter Chris took to X with a copy of Aldi's letter that read: 'Following the processing of your final salary, we have identified that an overpayment has occurred.' According to the 'overpayment details', Samuel received an extra £97 as the letter explained: 'In August 2026, you were paid 62.90 hours. You worked 49.46 hours, which means you have been overpaid by 13 hours.' This means Samuel was paid just over £7 per hour, while the minimum wage in the UK is £12.71 per hour. The latter included Aldi's bank details and outlined a repayment plan, including a minimum monthly repayment of 20 per cent of the owed amount. 'If we do not receive payment by 14th September, or you have not made contact with us, we will forward your details to our Debt Recovery Centre.' Reacting to Aldi's 'threat', Chris wrote on X: 'Hey Aldi UK, this letter you’ve sent my son is intimidating. You never mentioned to him that he was overpaid, threatening him with debt recovery action and asking for immediate payment (on a date 2 weeks before you’ve even sent the letter) is awful. You made the mistake, not him.' In its reply, Aldi said 'we are unable to assist with this at Customer Services' and suggested Chris get in touch with the payroll department using the 'telephone or email from the top right' of the letter. Hey @aldiuk tell your CEO that he should be looking into his accounting department as the department obviously does not how to count or use a calendar. While he’s at it; he should figure out how much the company spent sending this letter. I’m sure it more than £97! 🙄 https://t.co/NRPV8AXjJa— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) October 6, 2026 Soon after, Shatner took it upon himself to help Chris out as he fired off a tweet directed at the British supermarket.The Boston Legal star wrote: 'Hey Aldi UK, tell your CEO that he should be looking into his accounting department as the department obviously does not [know] how to count or use a calendar. 'While he’s at it; he should figure out how much the company spent sending this letter. I’m sure it [sic] more than £97!'When one X user suggested it was 'about 2p for the paper and ink, and a pound for the stamp', Shatner said 'some people just don't understand all the costs'. He was replying to a comment that read: 'A letter sent about an overpayment of hours and no hours, administration / I.T. / payroll processing costs / human resources factored into this reply. It probably cost a lot more than £1.02?'Shatner added that Aldi's CEO Giles Hurley should 'review how this issue happened instead of trying to get a paltry sum out of a young man for their mistake'.The issue has since been resolved, Metro reported.