Shannon Sharpe Slams Shaquille O’Neal's Ex-Wife Shaunie For Controversial 'Love' Comments
Shannon Sharpe made strong statements about Shaunie Henderson in one of the recent episodes of his podcast.
Last weekend, the former football tight end and Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson reacted to Henderson's revelations about her divorce from Shaquille O'Neal in her memoir "Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms," where she admitted that she was uncertain if she ever truly loved the NBA legend.
In the podcast, Sharpe said there's no need to say that, and people would only want to read Shaunie's memoir because of her link to Shaq.
"I'm sure Shaq thought she was in love... Now she said she doesn't know if she really was. I just don't get it. I don't get it," Sharpe said.
"Here's the thing... I know she's remarried and she's happy. I think she's married to a pastor right now. Let me ask you this, Ocho. How many pastors' wives are writing memoirs that people are reading?"
"They are going to read this book because she was married to Shaq, right? She became a household name because she was married to Shaq. For the longest time, she kept that O'Neal name, and I ain't got no problem with it. Like I said, I don't know Shaunie," he continued.
Shannon insisted that he was not bashing Shaunie but only saying that there's no need for her to say what she said in her memoir.
"I'm not here to bash Shaunie, but my thing is, I don't get why you needed to say that, why you felt you needed to say that," he said.
In Shaunie's memoir released on May 7 via Gallery Books, she wrote, "Looking back, I don't know that I was ever really in love with the man," pertaining to the NBA icon she was previously married to from 2002 to 2011.
The next day, her ex-husband took to Instagram to share what appeared to be his reply to his ex's statement, writing, "I understand... I wouldn't have been in love with me either. Wishing you all the best. All love, Shaq."
After Shaq's somber post, Henderson said that her quote about her ex was "taken out of context," and she explained herself in an exclusive interview with People.
"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," she said.
"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."
