Shaquille O’Neal is setting the record straight on whether he’s romantically involved with OnlyFans star Sophie Rain.
Rumors began circulating last month when Rain, 21, shared a photo of her and O’Neal, 53, posing together while out and about. O’Neal was all smiles as he sat beside Rain, who flashed her middle finger for the camera. “Look who i ran into on my birthday!!” she wrote via X at the time.
After a creator said that the age gap between O’Neal and Rain is “a little uncomfy feeling,” the basketball legend replied via Instagram. “I don’t [date] that young but I will date your mom and give u a brother,” he wrote on Monday, September 29.
In an exclusive statement to Us Weekly, Rain echoed O’Neal’s sentiment and shared that the twosome are “just friends.”
“He reached out to me after and was like damn, we are famous, haha, I don’t know why people think we are dating,” Rain said. “People are running with a wild story, but Shaq was nothing but respectful. It was my 21st birthday and he made it unforgettable.”
She continued, “I laughed when I saw the rumors. Shaq’s response says it all. He was never trying to be anything more than supportive and fun.”
O’Neal, for his part, previously tied the knot with Shaunie Henderson in 2002 before separating five years later. After a brief reconciliation in 2007, Henderson filed for divorce from O’Neal in 2009.
The exes share sons Shareef, 25, and Shaqir, 22, and daughters Amirah, 23, and Me’arah, 19. O’Neal and Henderson also coparent her son Myles, 28, from a previous relationship. O’Neal also shares daughter Taahirah, 29, with ex Arnetta Yardbourgh.
While reflecting on her romance with O’Neal in her 2024 memoir, Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms, Henderson admitted she’s not sure whether she was “ever really in love with the man.”
Henderson explained that she was “was in love with the idea of being married to the man I had a family with” and “was in love with the idea of building a life together.”
“I truly did enjoy spending time with him,” she added. “[NBA] road trips gave me a chance to be with my husband and experience the NBA life for a little while.”
In Henderson’s perspective, O’Neal was “trying to be a world-famous, thirty-something multimillionaire with thousands of women throwing themselves at him” while also “being a husband and a father” — and their relationship didn’t last.
“I enjoyed those sweet early years being a mother and raising my children; my days were always busy with kids and family, and every now and then I got to travel or enjoy a little of the NBA high life,” Henderson wrote. “But invisibly, my marriage was beginning to crumble.”
O’Neal went on to react to the claims via Instagram, writing at the time, “I understand … I wouldn’t have been in love with me either. Wishing you all the best … All love, Shaq.” He captioned the image, “Trust me I get it.”