Shaq Shuts Down Critics of Rihanna's Super Bowl Performance

Paper Magazine
Sat, 18 Feb 2023 19:46:05 +0000
Rihanna, Super bowl, Podcast, Shaquille o'neal

Shaquille O'Neal has some choice words for those who dare to criticize Rihanna or her Super Bowl Performance last weekend.

Appearing on the new episode of The Big Podcast featuring Nischelle Turner and Candace Parker, the 50-year-old former pro-basketball player got heated while defending the singer and Fenty mogul. "All you people disrespecting Rihanna, shut your face," he said. "She did a wonderful job. She’s pregnant. She blessed it. She didn’t fall. Just leave it there. All you superstars that’s disrespecting and causing beef — shut your face, shut it up."

Related | Rihanna Reveals Why She Walked Back On Super Bowl Boycott

O'Neal appears to be primarily addressing comments made by former president Donald Trump, who bemoaned Rih's "foul and insulting language," as well as the rapper Kodak Black, who said, "Man, uncle Trump said that shit garbage." Black notably became a Trump supporter after Trump pardoned his jail sentence in 2021.

"If she was my woman and I seen one of you superstars do that, I’m gonna have to get at you,” O’Neal added, seemingly calling for Rihanna's beau A$AP Rocky to come to his partner's defense. “Rappers. Presidential candidates. I’m gonna have to get at you. Leave her alone."

Rihanna took the stage for the Super Bowl LVII halftime show last weekend at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, serving a litany of hits ranging from "Bitch Better Have My Money" to "Diamonds." She also used the performance to unveil that she is pregnant with her second child.

Shaq, who revealed the Super Bowl was his first time seeing Rihanna live, ended his rant with another round of applause for the "Rude Boy" singer, before driving home his message succinctly: "All you people that got something to say, shut the f–k up! How ’bout that?"

Photo by Michael Reaves / Getty Images