GISHWES Brings Justin Bieber, William Shatner Together On Twitter
In a round of turnabout being fair play, pop star Justin Bieber has responded to Star Trek alumnus William Shatner’s Twitter request that Bieber follow him. While Bieber gets what are likely thousands of Twitter requests that he follow whoever is tweeting him daily, this particular tweet from the Shat has gotten people talking and, well, tweeting.
@justinbieber Can you follow me for a moment?
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 2, 2015
MTV News has several theories as to why the two Canadian stars would even be interested in following each other — Shatner started following Bieber a day ago — but there does not appear to be anything beyond a little contest known as GISHWHES (Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen) driving Shatner’s request that Bieber follow him.
GISHWHES was started by Supernatural star Misha Collins a few years ago and is partnered with his charitable organization Random Acts. Shatner has joined the annual weeklong scavenger hunt, which kicked off August 1, and for whatever reason, asked Bieber to follow him “for a moment.” It seems Bieber was only too happy to oblige.
Happy to help @WilliamShatner . I love Supernatural for #TeamShatner
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) August 2, 2015
Shatner has already proclaimed that #TeamShatner is going to pull off a GISHWHES win in 2015, but given the competition has just kicked off, that remains to be seen. However, Shatner has some powerful pull in the Twittersphere; with 2.23 million followers, it should come as no surprise that Team Shatner is likely quite large.
The real notion behind GISHWHES, according to the event website, appears to be inspiration, creativity, and most importantly, fun.
According to the site, “GISHWHES believes that ‘normalcy’ is overrated and that true ‘living’ can be found hidden under the rocks of community artistic creation, acts of artistic sublime public performances, and random acts of kindness.”
Random acts of kindness, indeed. The testimonials for GISHWHES were glowing, to say the least, with many participants eager for their next chance to get involved with GISHWHES.
“Not only did we get to do all the goofy, but we got CPR certified, registered as bone marrow donors, and made friends from all over. Counting down till next year already!” Amy-Nicole S said.
For his part, Collins couldn’t be more thrilled at the event’s success. He said during a recent interview that GISHWHES implies “hubris” just from its very name, but in reality, GISHWHES has inspired greatness in those who have participated.
“A lot of people write me letters saying that had absolutely transformative experiences participating in GISHWHES,” Collins said. “There’s so many testimonials like that make it feel so gratifying for me.”
It seems that Bieber has Shatner’s back for GISHWHES, with Shatner learning all too quickly what so many throughout the world have already known for years.
The Beliebers are a passionate bunch! ?
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) August 2, 2015
GISHWHES wraps up August 8, 2015.
[Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]
