Shaquille O’Neal Reveals Why He Is Supporting Adam Levine Through His Cheating Scandal: ‘I Cannot Be a Hypocrite’
03.10.2022 - 20:47
/ usmagazine.com
Shaquille O’Neal can relate to Adam Levine’s cheating scandal — which is why he has the musician’s back.
“Adam is a friend of mine from [a long] time ago,” the NBA icon, 50, told E! News at The Event, his charitable gala held in Las Vegas on Saturday, October 1, where Maroon 5 performed for the first time since the scandal broke. “I always say to myself, I cannot be a hypocrite.”
O’Neal elaborated: “I wasn’t the greatest husband in the world, so just because I have a large platform right now doesn’t give me the right to bash other people. He’s great.”
The basketball champion, who was married to ex-wife Shaunie O’Neal from 2002 to 2011, wasn’t the only star on hand to support the Grammy winner at The Event — the “Payphone” singer’s wife, Behati Prinsloo, reportedly watched from the side of the stage as the band performed.
“He’s doing something for the children, he’s always been like that,” Shaq said of Levine’s participation in the Sin City event, which supports the Orlando Magic alum’s titular foundation. “I’m happy for him. And I wish him luck.”
The Kazaam star previously weighed in on the drama surrounding the “Sunday Morning” artist, who admitted on September 20 to sending inappropriate messages during his marriage to Prinsloo, 34, who is currently pregnant with the couple’s third child.
“I was a serial cheater. It would be crazy and blasphemous for me to get up here and say, ‘Boom, boom, bam.’ I can’t do that,” the sports legend admitted during the September 24 episode of his podcast, “The Big Podcast with Shaq.”
He added: “I refuse to get up here and be like, ‘You shouldn’t do this, you shouldn’t have done that.’ I’m not that guy. I’m real with the situation.”
Days after Prinsloo confirmed she and Levine were expecting