Shaq Clears the Air on Rumored Flirty Messages to Sabrina Carpenter
In 2026, Shaquille O’Neal, better known as Shaq, remains as visible as ever. The Hall of Famer continues to dominate as a media personality and entrepreneur while expanding his influence through philanthropy and new ventures. These include his involvement in athlete recovery initiatives tied to the 2026 Winter Olympics and his ongoing “Shaq’s Fun House” Super Bowl events. At the same time, O’Neal has made headlines with alleged flirty messages he sent to Sabrina Carpenter. Here’s how he cleared the air about those messages.
Shaq verified that he never sent Sabrina Carpenter flirty messages despite the rumors
Shaquille O’Neal is known as one of the most prominent figures ever to play in the NBA. At 54, he continues to make headlines for his other ventures, including his work as DJ Diesel. And he recently cleared the air regarding rumors of flirty direct messages to pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
During an episode of The Big Podcast, rapper Jim Jones read aloud a fake headline concerning the basketball legend. “Shaq exposed for shooting his shot at Sabrina Carpenter,” the headline read.
Then, Shaq read the alleged message he was rumored to have sent to Carpenter. “Damn, baby, I would keep your farts in a cologne bottle and spray it on me every day,” O’Neal read on the podcast. “Just jokes. I’m Shaqs. What’s your name, baby?”
Carpenter then allegedly replied that she knew who Shaq was and that he was ” way too famous” to send her messages like the one shown. In response, Shaq allegedly alluded to wanting to have sexual relations with Carpenter, noting that she couldn’t handle “Big Diesel.”
Shaq cleared the air by verifying that the entire exchange was faked. “First of all, ladies, the Diesel got way more game than that,” he said.
Shaq and Jones then went on to make fun of the content of the fake messages. “That’s the illest line I ever heard in my life,” Jones said of Shaq’s faked opening line to Carpenter.
As for Shaq’s romantic life in 2026, he seems to keep that information under wraps. However, he did note that he might be open to marriage again after his 2011 divorce from Shaunie Henderson. According to EssentiallySports, he told Fox 26’s Jade Flury in early 2026 that he’d “probably get married soon.”
“You want somebody that’s gonna be nice and somebody that’s gonna treat you with honor and respect,” the legend said. “That’s it. It’s all you want. ‘I want this, I want that’ never works out.”
The Lakers star previously denied romantic involvement with an OnlyFans model
This isn’t the first time that Shaquille O’Neal has had to combat romance rumors. According to TMZ, Shaq shut down rumors that he was dating OnlyFans model Sophie Rain in late 2025 after a photo showed him at her 21st birthday party. The photo shows Shaq smiling while Rain posed in front of him and gave the camera the middle finger.
TikToker Noah Glenn Carter created a video that insinuated that Shaq and Rain were dating. According to Shaq, he was DJing at Encore Beach Club that night when Rain was there.
“I don’t [date] that young but I will date your mom and give u a brother,” Shaq commented on the video.
In additional deleted comments, the basketball player wrote, “Stop tryna create rumors don’t make me slap you dude,” and, “Your mom is hot tell her to hit me on my sky tell pager.”
