For once, someone has been caught in the act of farting on live television and owned up to it!
Mark this historic occasion in your calendars.
Shaquille O'Neal, legendary basketball star and man of unassailable integrity, owned up to full-tilt beefing during a live broadcast on TNT this week, where he is a basketball commentator.
The incident occurred during halftime commentary on Wednesday with fellow sports commentators Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson, who were unable to control their laughter after Shaq spontaneously began fanning the air away from his chair.
You can see the moment here:
O'Neal blamed the flatulence on his dinner earlier in the evening, telling his co-hosts:
"My boy Slice got me some bad lasagna."
Whoever you are, Slice, we're sorry your character has been impugned. You don't deserve this.
Anyway as you might guess, O'Neal's colleagues wasted no time roasting him for his flatulence. Smith suggested O'Neal "light a little fire over there" which, given the potential for explosions, prompted Johnson to quip, “that’s the last thing you want to do."
For his part, all Barkley could muster was a bewildered, "are you kidding me?"
Shaq then joked that he'd gone to the bathroom "right here in my seat," which is quite the evocative image. He also joked his favorite television character is "Fart Simpson" and pointed out he was wearing a "doo-doo brown" suit that night.
Smith later asked the all-important question:
"Who in America would ever sit on television and let everyone know they passed gas, other than [O'Neal]."
Which much like his lasagna, didn't sit right with Shaq--but not for the reason you might expect.
He quickly issued a clarification:
“I didn’t pass gas, I farted."
Now that's accountability.
Naturally, Twitter had a field day with Shaq's on-air cheese-cutting.
\u201cYou know how nasty a bad lasagna fart by Shaq has to smell? Proves no matter how rich and famous you are, it\u2019ll always be hilarious. \u201d— Bobby Reagan (@Bobby Reagan) 1682606565
\u201cjust watched shaq fart on tv, clear the air with his papers in his hand, and then joke about it with the guys for 2 minutes\n\namazing\u201d— area man (@area man) 1682565826
\u201c#InsideTheNBA makes me laugh harder than any other show on television. Shaq making fart jokes and they put a gas mask on Chuck \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude02 @NBAonTNT\u201d— Austin (@Austin) 1682566048
\u201cShaq fanning a fart on Live TV.\u201d— Nick Richards (@Nick Richards) 1682565557
\u201cI can't even fathom what a Shaq fart smells like.\u201d— Karl $pender (@Karl $pender) 1682565538
\u201cFirst thing Shaq does on Inside The NBA is fart from eating lasagna, Shaq O'Meal in real life is confirmed\u201d— Jacob (@Jacob) 1682565562
\u201c.@50Tweets1: "Hey I think Shaq is talking about pooping his pants."\n\nMe: (rewinds) "He's talking about farting."\n\nShaq: "My favorite cartoon character is Fart Simpson."\u201d— Heather Burnside (@Heather Burnside) 1682565725
\u201cShaq just farted on live television and said his favorite cartoon character is Fart Simpson\u201d— mr. tombstone (@mr. tombstone) 1682565605
\u201c@NBAonTNT @SHAQ Fart Simpson\u201d— Freddievelatayo (@Freddievelatayo) 1682565544
We thank Shaq for setting a good example when it comes to on-air farting.
And not just pretending it didn't happen like some people like to do!
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AMC