Shaq Denies Knowing Joe Exotic After ‘Tiger King’ Cameo: Not My Friend, I Don’t Know Him

Shaq & Joe Exotic

Shaq Denies Knowing Joe Exotic After ‘Tiger King’ Cameo: Not My Friend, I Don’t Know Him

NBA star turned sportscaster Shaquille O’Neal is clearing the air after he was spotted in Netflix’s newest viral series “Tiger King.”

Now, he’s setting the record straight and stating that he and “Tiger King” star Joe Exotic aren’t as close as they seemed, even though he stopped by Joe Exotic’s zoo.

“So we go in there, and it’s a beautiful place, and the character that was there was Exotic Joe. We’re there and I dropped some donations for the tigers’ foods and all that. We take pictures with [the] tigers. We went back a couple times.”

One of those times was in 2014, which was captured on Joe Exotic’s YoutTube channel. But Shaq said he hasn’t gone back after hearing more about Joe Exotic’s activity.

Then we go back another time and we found out that he’s involved with all the stuff, and then, actually, I stopped going.”

Shaquille O’Neal added,

“I don’t harm tigers. I love tigers. I love white tigers. Do I put donations to these zoos to help these tigers out? I do it all the time. Do I own tigers personally at my house? No. But I love tigers. Listen, people are going to make their own opinions, but, again, I was just a visitor. I met this guy — not my friend. Don’t know him. Never had any business dealings with him, and I had no idea any of that stuff was going on.”

While he’s a TV star, he can’t necessarily enjoy the fame. He’s serving 22 years in prison after being found guilty of two counts of murder for hire, eight infringements on the Lacey Act (which bans the illegal trading of plants, wildlife, and fish). He was also convicted for nine violations of the Endangered Species Act.

What are your thoughts on Shaq clearing things up? Tell us in the comments.