Nichelle Nichols has been heard screaming for help in disturbing audio amid a guardianship battle involving her son.
The American actress, who played Lieutenant Uhura in the long-running TV series Star Trek, can be heard shrieking that she doesn't want to go home in a worrying clip aired by an Atlanta news station on Tuesday night.
In the short audio clip - already broadcast by WGCL-TV and said by the station to have been provided by Nichelle's close friend Gilbert Bell - the actress and singer says she "didn't give permission" for conservatorship over her.
Nichelle, who is now 86 and battling dementia, was allegedly recorded after finding out her son had gone to court to take control over her affairs and estate.
Her son is said to have entered the room at the time Nichelle starts speaking.
"I didn't give permission to have conservatorship over me. Because I didn't know what he was doing," the female voice - reported by the station to be Nichelle - says.
A male voice - reportedly that of her son - then says, "We're going home now" as the woman starts shouting "No".
"Mother. Mother," the man says.
"Give me my stick! No, no, no! Get your hands off of me," the distressed woman screams at the top of her voice.
"Mother, we are going home," the man says again, to which Nichelle answers: "No!"
"We are going home," the man says firmly.
"I'm not going home unless you let - get rid of me. You're trying to get rid of me," the woman shrieks again.
"No, Mother," the man states before Nichelle is heard screaming wordlessly.
The TV channel reported that the footage was recorded on April 23, 2019. News anchor Jonathan Carlson said he spoke by phone to Nichelle's son, who claimed his mum doesn't have a management team but "declined to elaborate on that or refute these accusations or that recording".
Nichelle's long-term handlers and friends have reportedly told the station they are concerned her son has "ill intentions".
In the wake of the report, detectives from Los Angeles Police Department went to her home for a welfare check and interviewed both the actress and her son, WGCL-TV reported.
Nichelle made history by sharing the first interracial kiss ever seen on screen with William Shatner, in the third season of Star Trek.
She was also one of the first black women to hold a prominent position in a popular TV show, and was convinced to stay on Star Trek by none other than Dr Martin Luther King Jr, who told her she was "part of history".
Sadly, in recent years Nichelle has suffered from poor health, including a minor stroke in 2015.
Just earlier this month she announced she'd planned a farewell tour to say goodbye to her fans in a series of public appearances before she goes into full-time retirement.
