In an interview ahead of Maroon 5's performance at his annual fundraising gala, the former NBA star defends his decision to keep the band as a musical guest at the Las Vegas event.
- Sep 30, 2022
AceShowbiz - Shaquille O'Neal has nothing bad to say about Adam Levine despite his rumored infidelity. In fact, the basketball legend has shown his support to the singer amid allegations that he cheated on his wife Behati Prinsloo with an Instagram model named Sumner Stroh and sent flirty messages to other women.
This weekend, Adam will join Shaq at The Shaquille O'Neal Foundation's annual fundraising gala "The Event" in Las Vegas. In an interview with TMZ, the former professional basketball player explained his decision to keep Adam's band Maroon 5 as a musical guest at the show.
"Adam is a personal friend of mine. He's always been a great guy," Shaq said in the interview published on Thursday, September 29. "He's coming to help kids out this weekend. That's as solid as you can get."
Refusing to judge Adam based on the recent headlines about his private life, the sports analyst continued, "It is not my job to say, 'You did this. You did that. You shouldn't have did this. You shouldn't have did that.' "
He added of the Grammy Award-winning artist, "As far as I can say, he’s coming to help kids out this weekend. He's a good man in my book." While Shaq noted that Adam is "going through some things right now," he has no doubt that the musician will "overcome" the scandal.
Shaq previously spoke of Adam cheating scandal on his "The Big Podcast with Shaq". Admitting that he was a "serial cheater" himself, the 50-year-old said, "It would be crazy and blasphemous for me to get up here and say, 'Boom, boom, bam.' I can't do that."
Of Adam and Ime Udoka, who has also been accused of cheating on his wife Nia Long, Shaq claimed he knows "these guys personally." He further detailed, "I know they're going through a lot because I went through a lot."
While he's not proud of his infidelity back then, Shaq wasn't going to hide his past either. "I'm never the guy that's going to get up here because of my platform and fake it," he said. "I did it. I was the best at it. I'm not proud of it."
Adam and Behati have been putting on a united front since the cheating allegations surfaced. On Tuesday, the couple was seen arriving at an air strip in Santa Barbara, California, before boarding a private jet together. They reportedly headed to Las Vegas for "The Event" gig.
