Shaquille O’Neal walked off the set of “Inside the NBA” on Tuesday after sportscaster Kenny Smith mentioned Jay-Z just two days after the rapper was named in a lawsuit accusing him of raping a child with Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The commentators, along with Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson Jr., were discussing a free throw showdown with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, when O’Neal reminded Kenny Smith the latter’s “from New York.”
“You think Jay-Z or —” Smith started, laughing when he was cut off by Barkley advising it was “probably not a good time” to discuss the Roc Nation founder.
Those behind the camera started laughing as Shaq shook his head and walked off, facing the wall: “Too soon, Kenny.”
Smith then backtracked and swapped Jay-Z’s name for Kendrick Lamar in a potential rap face-off.
Jay-Z was named on Sunday in an amended lawsuit, originally filed in October, as having raped a 13-year-old girl alongside Diddy at an MTV VMAs after-party in September 2000.
The rapper promptly denied the “heinous” allegations in a statement shared by Roc Nation, calling the lawsuit a “blackmail attempt.”
“Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree? These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case,” read the statement.
Combs, for his part, is the subject of mounting sexual assault lawsuits accusing him of having drugged and raped men, women and minors. He was arrested in mid-September on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges and remains in custody at Brooklyn MDC after being denied bail three times.
