Thanks for clearing that up, Shaq.
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal set the record straight after a screenshot appearing to show a ridiculous DM he sent to pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter began circulating online.
The screenshot of the bizarre messages, attached to a post claiming that “Shaq exposed for shooting his shot at Sabrina Carpenter,” claimed to show Shaq hitting on the pop star with possibly the worst pickup line of all time.
“I would keep your farts in a cologne bottle and spray it on me every day.”
He then followed it up by introducing himself:
“Just jokes, I’m Shaq what’s your name baby”
The messages showed Carpenter promptly rejecting his advances:
“I know how you are… You’re way too famous to be sending messages like that…”
But Shaq wasn’t deterred:
“I can’t be horny and want some of that snow bunny kitty for myself. You’re being rude for no reason.
You couldn’t handle big diesel anyways… my meat would have you in the hospital.”
Now, there are some obvious issues with the supposed DMs. Most importantly, how would they have gotten out in the first place? Did people really think that Sabrina Carpenter leaked her messages from one of the most famous people in the country?
Of course there’s also quite the age gap between the two: Carpenter is 26, while DJ Diesel is twice her age at 54. But then again that’s nothing to celebrities these days (looking at you, Bill Belichick) so I guess he felt the need to put an end to the ridiculous rumors.
And Shaq really doesn’t strike me as an emoji guy, never mind the rest of the ridiculousness in the conversation.
Well this week on an episode of The Big Podcast, Shaq cleared the air and confirmed what anybody with half a brain already knew: The screenshot was fake.
“First of all ladies, the Diesel got way more game than that, I’m just saying.”
Shaq seemed like a good sport about it, laughing the screenshots off for being so ridiculous. But it also goes to prove another point: Too many people believe everything they read online. We see it all the time with AI pictures that rack up thousands of likes and comments from people who aren’t able to spot things that are so obviously fake.
Luckily this one was relatively harmless, but we’ve seen plenty of examples in the past of people who were scammed out of their life savings because they fell for something that was clearly fake on the internet, like a message claiming to be from a celebrity who needs them to send thousands of dollars in Bitcoin to somebody in Nigeria to help pay for their next tour. (You laugh, but people fall for this crap way too often).
While Shaq quickly put the ridiculous story to rest, Carpenter has yet to comment on the fake DMs. And you’ve gotta think she’s probably gotten worse messages from insane people on the internet anyway…
Keep your head on a swivel…and don’t believe everything you see online.
