edit: what does this have to do with courtesy?

Olyphant would have been 40-41 when they were casting Star Trek (2009) and Chris Pine was 28-29. That’s a pretty meaningful age difference that comes off in both appearance and performance. It wasn’t just some minor detail— the actor who got cast had to play Kirk from the age of ~18-25, so it made a lot more sense to cast an actor much closer to that age. I don’t see the problem here or how explaining that is “mean”.

edit: in fact, Olyphant didn’t think it was mean at all:

FTA:

“Auditioning sucks,” Olyphant concluded, “and the fact that I remember the audition process fondly says a lot about J.J. Abrams and what a wonderful man that guy is.”