Shaquille O’Neal has responded to a viral rumour that he sent “horny” direct messages to Sabrina Carpenter.
The NBA legend, DJ and rapper tackled the online discourse during a recent episode of The Big Podcast With Shaq, including the bizarre speculation that he wanted to bottle up the singer’s farts to use as cologne.
Talking to his guests Jim Jones and Bailey Jackson, O’Neal showed one headline that had been written based on the rumour that read: “Shaq exposed for shooting his shot with Sabrina Carpenter”.
He went on to read a series of fake messages that were supposedly sent between himself and Carpenter, including: “Damn, baby, I would keep your farts in a cologne bottle and spray it on me every day. Just jokes. I’m Shaq. What’s your name, baby?”
The message then received a ‘response’ from Carpenter that read: “I know who you are. You’re way too famous to be sending me messages like that.” O’Neal’s fake response was that he “can’t be horny and want some of that snow bunny kitty for myself”, accusing her of being “rude for no reason”.
Stressing that the rumour had no basis in reality, O’Neal said: “First of all, ladies, the Diesel got way more game than that,” referring to his long-time nickname. “I’m just saying.”
The four-time NBA champion had a successful music career, recording four rap albums in the ‘90s. His 1993 debut ‘Shaq Diesel’ was the first platinum-selling record from an NBA player, while 1996’s ‘You Can’t Stop The Reign’ featured a verse from The Notorious B.I.G. on its title track.
Shaq also contributed a verse to ‘2 Bad’, a track from Michael Jackson’s ‘HIStory: Past Present And Future, Book I’ in 1995, while Jay-Z guested on ‘No Love Lost’ from Shaq’s fourth studio album ‘Respect’ in 1998.
In recent years, he has reinvented himself as a DJ under the moniker Diesel, performing at maor festivals such as Tomorrowland and Lollapalooza. He has been DJing in some form since the ‘80s, starting out when he was a student at Louisiana State University.
In 2021, he joined Snoop Dogg on stage to fill in for Dr. Dre’s verse on ’Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang’.
As for Carpenter, she released her seventh album ‘Man’s Best Friend’ last September, which NME gave a four-star review, writing: “In truth, ‘Man’s Best Friend’ would benefit from a couple more copper-bottomed bops like the slinky, Prince-influenced ‘House Tour’ and ‘When Did You Get So Hot?’, which sounds like a sleeper hit from a ’90s rom-com. But everything here is effortlessly hooky and cleverly constructed. ‘Go Go Juice’, a country shuffle about boozey rebound sex, gets suitably rowdier as it progresses. Even a slightly sluggish cut like ‘Don’t Worry, I’ll Make You Worry’, which sounds a bit like Lana Del Rey in Nashville, is melodically exquisite.
Given Carpenter’s fondness for even a dodgy double entendre, it feels fitting to end on one. With ‘Man’s Best Friend’, she’s done more than enough to keep herself on top.”
She performed her 2025 hit ‘Manchild’ at the Grammys in February, and she was the star of the revival of The Muppet Show later that same month, singing ‘Islands In The Stream’ with Kermit and Miss Piggy.