Shaquille O'Neal says he's the only one to blame for the end of his marriage with Shaunie O'Neal: 'I was bad. She was awesome. She really was. It was all me.'
Shaunie O'NealThe pair divorced in 2011 after five years of marriage and four children together, claiming in the filing that their marriage was “irretrievably broken.” And on Tuesday's episode of, the former Lakers all-star admitted that he's the reason their relationship fell into such disrepair. O'Neal said, “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. She was awesome. She really was.
While the NBA legend didn't want to relitigate exactly “what I was doing” that brought about the demise of their relationship, he did say, “I wasn't protecting her and protecting those vows. Sometimes when you live that double life, you get caught up. I'm not going to say it was her; it was all me.” O'Neal then went on to point out all of the effort Shaunie put into their relationship leading up to the divorce, which he failed to reciprocate.
But since their split, he said that they've been able to mend their relationship and are now good friends and co-parents again. Late last year, Shaunie announced her engagement to pastor, “This love is FOREVER and I'm honored and overjoyed to do forever with him.” And O'Neal couldn't be happier for his ex, telling the podcast, “She's happy now. She's about to marry a fine, young gentleman and I'm happy for her.