They have one of the healthiest co-parenting relationships in the entertainment industry and haven’t been shy about speaking openly about the missteps that occurred during their marriage. Shaquille O’Neal and ex-wife Shaunie were married in 2002 and divorced in 2011, and in a recent chat with The Pivot Podcast, he admitted that the demise of the union was his fault.
“I’ve never talked about this, and I’m glad you guys asked because I don’t mind talking about this, but I was bad,” Shaq said. “She was awesome. She really was. It was all me.”
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He didn’t want to get into too much detail about what happened during the marriage’s downturn because it has always been important to the Los Angeles Lakers icon to shelter their privacy. However, he did add, “I wasn’t protecting her and protecting those vows.”
“She did exactly what she was supposed to do and gave me beautiful kids, take care of the house, take care of the corporate stuff,” he said. “It was just all me. Sometimes, when you make a lot of mistakes like that, you can’t really come back from that.”
In 2020, Shaunie began dating Pastor Keion Henderson and last year, the couple announced their engagement. Watch Shaq on The Pivot Podcast below.