Shaquille O'Neal Denies He's Dating Woman in Viral Photo — and Jokingly Shares Similar Pictures with Other Women

Mar. 15, 2025

Shaquille O’Neal attends Shaq Attack Day at Nana’s Chicken & Waffles.Photo:Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Shaquille O’Nealis shutting down rumors after social media users accused him of being in a PDA-packed viral photo.

Teachey’s social media followers believed it was O’Neal in the image, and speculation about the retired player’s relationship status began circulating online.

Shaquille O’Neal, aka DJ Diesel.SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty

SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty

Then, the 7-foot-1 basketball commentator shared two posts to his Instagram grid poking fun at the rumor.

In another video, O’Neal showed off his dance moves in a funny bit with media personality Alexa Leighton. “My real girlfriend knows I’m a big black exotic dancer#itwasntme,” O’Neal wrote.

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In recent years, O’Neal has remained fairly private about his romantic life. In May, theInside the NBAstar’s ex-wife, Shaunie Henderson, released her memoirUndefeated,in which she questioned whether she ever really loved her ex-husband.

After the book’s release, O’Neal shared a somber message on Instagram, writing, “I understand… I wouldn’t have been in love with me either. Wishing you all the best. All love, Shaq,” he wrote on Instagram with the caption, “Trust me I get it.”

Shaquille O’Neal; Shaunie Henderson.Getty(2)

Getty(2)

Henderson told PEOPLEshortly after that the quote from her book was taken out of context regarding O’Neal.

“My book is my truth, and when I was talking to my friend yesterday, I was like, ‘Developing an opinion and a comment from content with no context will show you a lot of people’s intelligence and unintelligence, right?’ There was no context to just that one quote that I said, and I think that sadly, people are taking my words out of context.”

“I’m not a word girl. I’m a character girl, and since I’ve left the marriage of Shaquille, my character has spoken for itself,” she added.

source: people.com