Shaquille O’Neal has finally addressed why he posted the doctored photo of him and Drake in a bathing suit by the pool.
In a new clip from “The BIG Podcast with Shaq,” O’Neal said, “Let me apologize real quick. I sent out a picture the other day. The mistake I made was not saying, ‘Who did this?’ I want Drake to know that Drake has a great sense of humor. I thought it was funny that they did it. I saw people saying, ‘Shaq’s trolling.’ I am not trolling; I didn’t photoshop it; someone else did that.”
Naturally, the comment section lit up. “Naaaaaaaa, there’s no way he can justify some s**t like that,” one fan reacted. “It’s a Good thing he apologized. I was sure offended. Oh, yeah, this is Drake speaking to you right now. I know a lot of you think I lost the rap battle, but any attention is good attention in this world. I mean, look, you’re making posts about me right now,” someone else quipped. “One day, you’ll realize how Drake carries this industry when he’s gone… Bro gave us three of the best rap battles in the last 15 years,” another user claimed.
Coming off the heels of Kendrick Lamar’s “The Pop Out — Ken and Friends” concert, Drake has been subject to several jabs and online memes. On Sunday, June 23, Shaq joined the fray by sharing the photoshopped image of the Toronto rapper in a black bikini on a yacht.
O’Neal paired the Instagram Story with Metro Boomin’s “BBL Drizzy” instrumental in the backdrop. It marked the NBA legend’s first public entry into Drake and Lamar’s dispute. The self-coined 6 God once mentioned the NBA all-timer on 2015’s “Used 2”: “Yeah, I’m f**king glowing up/ Shaq posting up on n**gas that I used to have posters of.”
The image shared by O’Neal was originally from a 2019 trip to Spain and involved then-27-year-old model Danielle Dilworth, per Bossip. The nature of their relationship was not detailed. Still, at the time, the outlet reported he was in Europe for a series of DJ Diesel performances, including a show at Belgium’s Tomorrowland Festival.
Watch the full podcast episode below.