NEWSShaquille O’Neal Denies Sending Sabrina Carpenter Racy DMs After He’s Accused of Telling the Pop Star He’s 'Horny' for Her
Shaquille O’Neal denied sending Sabrina Carpenter racy DMs telling the pop star he's 'horny' for her.
March 25 2026, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Shaquille O’Neal shut down rumors about sliding into Sabrina Carpenter’s DMs.
On an episode of “Big Podcast With Shaq,” the basketball legend, 54, read aloud the messages in question to guest star Jim Jones.
Did Shaquille O’Neal Actually Message Sabrina Carpenter?
Shaquille O’Neal claimed he did not flirt with Sabrina Carpenter.
“I want you to tell me if this is me or not me,” he declared before dissecting the alleged DMs.
"D---, baby. I would keep your farts in a cologne bottle and spray it on me every day. Just jokes, I’m Shaq what’s your name baby,” the NBA star read.
“I know who you are…you’re way too famous to be sending messages like that…” the singer, 26, reportedly responded.
"I can't be horny and want some of that Snow Bunny for myself?! You being rude for no reason,” the next message allegedly sent by O’Neal read. “You can’t handle big diesel anyways…my meat would have you in the hospital! Can we find out?”
O’Neal then denied ever sending those messages to Carpenter.
"First of all, the Diesel has way more game than that," he joked.
Shaquille O’Neal was accused of saying he was 'horny' for Sabrina Carpenter.
Sabrina Carpenter allegedly shut down Shaquille O’Neal.
Fans were divided about the situation.
“Shaq been a freak since his playing days. I definitely believe the reports,” one Facebook user wrote, while another disagreed, “He’s way too classy for that!”
“Dude’s in his 50s why would he do that,” a third added.
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Shaquille O’Neal and Sabrina Carpenter's Relationship Histories
Shaquille O’Neal was previously married to Shaunie Henderson.
O’Neal was married to Shaunie Henderson from 2002 to 2011, while Carpenter most recently dated Barry Keoghan between 2023 and 2024.
The “Espresso” singer split from the Irish actor in December 2024, with a source confirming at the time, "They are both young and career-focused, so they've decided to take a break."
Sabrina Carpenter reportedly broke up with Barry Keoghan in December 2024.
Carpenter stayed relatively quiet about the breakup and tends to keep her relationships private, despite the fact that many of her songs are about love.
“People underestimate how tricky it is to navigate being a young woman, having relationships, and then having a bunch of strangers have opinions on them,” she told Rolling Stone in June 2025. “Surely, all of these people that are commenting, if they had the same microscope on their personal lives, I don’t think they’d be as eloquently spoken as me. I know it’s a tale as old as time. It’s just unfortunate that it’s still a tale.”
While she and Keoghan were still together, he gushed over her talent and six Grammy nominations.
“I don't know anyone who works as hard. I'm in awe watching her work and how committed and the standards that she sets,” he said on a November 2024 episode of “The Jess Cagle Show.”
