NAMES IN THE NEWS : Shatner Denies Palimony Claim

“Star Trek” actor William Shatner said a woman suing him for palimony is a one-time friend trying to make some money off his stardom.

Vira Montes, 28, contends in a lawsuit filed by celebrity divorce lawyer Marvin Mitchelson that she was the 58-year-old Shatner’s “companion, confidante and homemaker” from 1984 until earlier this month.

“It’s a shame this had to happen,” Shatner said in a statement released Thursday. “The case she presents is ridiculous. She was a friend whom I tried to help. Someone obviously got to her and convinced her that she could possibly make a killing by suing me.”

Shatner, on vacation with his wife, Marcy, and three daughters, was unavailable for further comment, said his publicist, Cheryl Kagan.

In a law filed Wednesday, Montes claims that she gave up her career as a medical assistant in exchange for Shatner’s promises to provide her financial support.

She claims that Shatner agreed to buy her a California house, a car, horseback riding lessons, an Arabian horse that Shatner had received from entertainer Wayne Newton and another horse for her 8-year-old son.