It was two days after Leonard Nimoy passed away on Friday, that the family held a funeral for the late actor, writer, artist and beloved friend. The service - a private traditional Jewish ceremony, according to the New York Daily News - took place at an undisclosed location in Hollywood at 9am on Sunday. Without William Shatner.

It's unclear why multiple news outlets are making such a big deal out of the fact that Shatner's plane arrived a couple of hours too late for him to attend the service.  But then again, Shatner didn't make it easy on himself either. The Daily News report that the actor said Saturday that he was ditching the funeral to stay in Florida to attend a charity event.

Leonard Nimoy
Nimoy's death was sudden and unexpected, so why is everyone making such a big deal out of Shatner's absence?

Naturally, commenters online have branded Shatner as thoughtless and the Daily News have even given him the nickname "Captain Jerk" as a result. Granted, it sounds like a playground insult, but apparently it does the job - the job being making light of a bad situation, apparently.

More: Leonard Nimoy's Disease Shocks Fans, But Here's Ten Things You Did Not Know About Him

Meanwhile, Shatner seems to be fending off reporters as well as he can. Reached Sunday night at his gated mansion in Studio City, Calif., Shatner stared phaser rays at a News reporter.

"The police are coming. You'd better get going," he said before the reporter even asked a question.

The Priceline pitchman spent much of Sunday debating people slamming his decision to stay for the ball at the tony Mar-a-Lago club.

 "I chose to honor a commitment I made months ago to appear at a charitable fundraiser," Shatner wrote on Twitter. "A lot of money was raised. So here I am; tell me off."