Shaquille O'Neal is imploring his fans to stop falling for rumors, once and for all. In the midst of viral claims that the NBA legend had reached out to Sabrina Carpenter on DMs earlier this month, he swiftly debunked the speculation that "Big Diesel" had attempted to woo her. "First of all, ladies, the Diesel has way more game than that," Shaq declared on the March 20th episode of his The Big Podcast. "I'm just saying."
The 54-year-old laughed as he read aloud the alleged DMs, which included such lines as, "'Damn, baby, I would keep your farts in a cologne bottle and spray it on me every day.'" He continued, quoting the fake texts, "'Just jokes, I’m Shaq. What’s your name, baby?' And Sabrina replies, 'I know who you are. You’re way too famous to be sending messages like that.'"
The fabricated text then showed Shaq writing to the "Manchild" singer, "'I can’t be horny and want some of that snow bunny kitty for no reason. You can’t handle Big Diesel anyway. My meat would have you in the hospital.'" Ultimately, the basketball star - a proud dad to daughter Taahirah, 29, with ex-girlfriend Arnetta Yardbourgh, as well as children Myles, 28, Shareef, 26, Amirah, 24, Shaqir, 22, and Me'arah, 19, with ex-wife Shaunie Henderson - chalked the fake messages up to "youngsters" focused on "the algorithm and going viral."
But this isn't the first time Shaq has addressed rumors about his dating life. In October, he shut down claims that he was romantically involved with 21-year-old OnlyFans model Sophie Rain after the pair were spotted together at a nightclub in Las Vegas. "I don’t [date] that young," Shaq wrote in the comments section of a video calling out the pair’s age difference. "But I will date your mom and give you a brother." In a separate since-deleted comment, the Los Angeles Lakers alum explained that he was DJing at Encore Beach Club when Sophie "came to my party." He added, "Stop trying to create rumors."
