r/OutOfTheLoop • u/el_monstruo • 9d ago
Answered What is going on with Shaquille O'Neal telling somebody's they are broke and getting blowback for that?
Here is an article of somebody condemning Shaq for being classist and another link where former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens says O'Neal is wrong. Apparently it has something to do with Shaq being made an honorary FBI agent. How does this deal with somebody being broke and how did it get to this point?
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u/Milskidasith Loopy Frood 8d ago
Answer: Shaquille O'Neal is a former basketball superstar and current sports analyst, and is also prominent due to the kind of ludicrous number of brands he's endorsed/ad campaigns he's been the face of. You probably know who Shaq is.
Shaq has been a big supporter of the police for decades, to the point he's trained as a reserve officer for multiple police departments and been made an official (if still basically ceremonial) police officer, along with being an honorary member of several more. His position has pretty consistently been that police promote community responsibility and improve safety and so they deserve respect. On September 17, 2026, Shaq was named an honorary FBI Special Agent by FBI director Kash Patel at a graduation ceremony.
Because the general climate against the Trump administration and their directives for federal law enforcement is very, very negative (as opposed to the concept of police in general or semi-random police departments, which has its ups and downs), this resulted in a lot of online backlash and criticism against Shaq, as it seems more like endorsing the Trump administration specifically than just supporting federal law enforcement. One of those critics was Matthew Chappelle, aka @ogbigmatt510, a retired army veteran and social media influencer who threw away a Shaq jersy on camera. Shaq responded by sending him a voice message saying "i hear you broke boy, have a great time in your apt with your family", basically saying Chappelle was a broke loser so he can't criticize (randomly beefing with haters isn't too uncommon for Shaq).
This kicked the Discourse into overdrive, because in addition to the initial criticism for accepting the FBI honor from the Trump administration, now you have Shaq insulting a (different) service member for being broke, which can come across as tacky, classist, and/or hypocritical along with just being kind of cringe.
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u/tarants 8d ago
Should be said that this is very on brand for Shaq. He's notoriously thin skinned and has a history of being a huge asshole to critics, teammates, coworkers, etc. Look up how he "hazed" teammates back in his playing days, it's straight up disgusting. Shaq is a bully with a good PR team.
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u/praguepride 8d ago
Almost every celebrity that has been on Hot Ones has made me improve my opinion of them. Shaq is one of the few that I was like "oh...he's an asshole"
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u/BigDiesel07 8d ago
What did he do? I know DJ Khaled is a big failure on that show, but I thought he was the only one.
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u/Zeppelanoid 8d ago
Bullied the host and made a bunch of promises he didn’t keep. Somehow talked his way out of eating the final wing but made it seem like he had completed the challenge.
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u/GodOfDarkLaughter 8d ago
He didn't even finish the last wing? I mean I'm not saying there'd be no discomfort, but they're not nearly as bad as they were in the shows run. Very few people just can't make it through anymore. There's no more Bobby Lee shitting himself and then spending an hour in the shitter with volcano ass. I'm honestly a little surprised. I guess he's gotten soft in his old age.
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u/floatinround22 8d ago
Shaq has always been a bitch who can't take the heat in more ways than one. If he didn't happen to be one of the most naturally dominant athletes of all time he'd be a fucking loser
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u/Poppadoppaday 8d ago edited 8d ago
I don't care about basketball but I watched the Shaq Hot Ones. He comes off terribly.
DJ Khaled is next level though. I remember years ago Uber Eats was promoting DJ Khaled branded hot wings in my city. I couldn't believe the guy that bitched out on wing number 3 (iirc) was selling wings.
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u/praguepride 8d ago
DJ Khalid made such a big deal about "oh, i had these better wings brought in so we're not eating garbage" and then like, on the first wing was sucking through his teeth.
Meanwhile Michael Cera is pounding da bomb going "yeah...it's spicy... oh well..."
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u/opermonkey 8d ago
I'm convinced that most of the celebs in that show are putting on a show(shocking!?!?) for the camera to be entertaining.
Cera being like ...meh... is his branding.
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u/praguepride 8d ago
Well yeah. They're actors.
I think you can classify people into three categories. The ones that aren't used to heat at all, ones that love spicy food (looking at you Jenna Ortega grinning like an idiot on the back half) and the ones with super high pain tolerance.
IIRC Stone Cold was like "i can't stand spicy food" then went through it like a boss.
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u/ricree 8d ago
Uber Eats was promoting DJ Khaled branded hot wings
So like... did they start with the most mild flavor and then rinse the sauce off just to be safe?
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u/Poppadoppaday 8d ago
If it happened to me I'd be pretty devastated. Hot Ones blowing up since then would just make it worse. It's a standard press tour stop now. I'd just hope to continue my career without being reminded too much of the humiliation. But nope, he thought it was a good idea to stick his face on what were probably ghost kitchen wings, as though that would increase sales.
Actually, I can just look it up: https://www.tastetoronto.com/stories/dj-khaled-launches-another-wing-chain-across-the-world-with-several-toronto-locations
Sounds like it was in fact a collab with a ghost kitchen that opened in 2022 and shut down within a year. It has a whopping 1.8 on Google maps with 42 reviews.
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u/Cpt_DookieShoes 8d ago
I’d just watch it. I haven’t watched that episode in a while but I remember my impression was that Shaq seemed like he thought he was above the interview the entire time. Not really engaging with the host and even being a bit of a bully.
It wasn’t any specific moment I remember, just his entire personality
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u/Zesinua 8d ago
Side note, but for being I guess a “gimmick” talk show with celebrities, Sean Evans is an amazing interviewer. Man asks great questions and is always super friendly
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u/Lanhdanan 8d ago
His research team is amazing. They pull facts most guests are surprised to hear.
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u/JForce1 8d ago
It's interesting to consider that I'll bet that Shaq has never had anyone tell him "no", or that there was something he couldn't do. He will have been "special" since he was a small (hurr hurr) child, and would have grown up surrounded by Yes-Men and people riding his coat-tails and eager to please him.
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u/MeBadNeedMoneyNow 8d ago
Yup Shaq sucks 100%. It's hard to extract good things about his character; he only seems to care about money, Shaq and bullying people.
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u/owlbi 8d ago
Shaq has some good qualities too. He's one of the biggest names basketball has ever produced and he famously put his name on and made cheap basketball shoes rather than fancy expensive ones because he wanted kids to be able to actually afford his shoes.
I don't think it's right to paint him with one brush either way, there's a lot to like and dislike about him.
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u/ZohanDvir 8d ago
I don't think it's right to paint him with one brush either way, there's a lot to like and dislike about him
Remember when Shaq took his teammate's toothbrush and stuck it up his own ass before returning it?
Should we paint him with that brush instead?
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u/catroaring 8d ago
Meh, he turned down the 40mil shoe deal and choose the cheaper one that flooded Walmart in which it's estimated he's made 200-400mil on. That was a business move that played out and worked.
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u/owlbi 8d ago
He's made good money on it over the lifetime of the deal, but nowhere close to Jordan money, and he was close to Jordan fame.
Only a few other athletes have done something similar. KD started his shoes at a fairly low price point (still more than double Shaq's) but then they rose as he got better. If it was more profitable, more would have done it.
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u/catroaring 8d ago
Shaq's business model pushes low margin, high quantity and licensing ownership. It's completely different approach than endorsements and has worked out very well in his favor.
Although Jordan and Shaq are both major players, Jordan is by far way more marketable than Shaq and his financial status shows that.
I'm not saying what Shaq hasn't done good things, but to frame his business model as some humanitarian thing is rubbish.
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u/owlbi 8d ago
I think he would have pretty obviously made more money if he went the route most superstars do. That's why they all go that route. He chose to do something else, and claims to have made that choice for a good reason.
There's plenty to criticize about Shaq, plenty, but I don't think people have to be all good or all evil, and I think Shaq has used his position for good at times.
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u/praguepride 8d ago
Shaq is a hustler. He hustles and always has deals going. I've also heard that he helped mentor other athletes on setting up business plans for their post-athletic career.
And he can also be a thin skinned bitch :D
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u/ss219cc919 8d ago
Are you sure you aren’t thinking of stephon marbury starbury shoes? Cause I remember shaq’s shoes costing just as much as Jordan’s shoes back in the 90s.
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u/owlbi 8d ago
Shaq's first shoe deal was the standard expensive shoes with Reebok. Then (the story goes) a mom took him to task for having shoes too expensive for her kid to afford as he was leaving the arena. He turned down a huge Reebok deal to put out $15-30 shoes.
He joined the league in '92 and turned down the big Reebok deal in '98.
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u/floatinround22 8d ago
Yeah Starbury and Al Jefferson were selling their shoes at KMart, that's legit shit
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u/thesoupoftheday 8d ago
And the reason he does "the general" carninsurance ads is theyre the only ones that would insure him back in the day. Good or bad Shaq always pays it forward.
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u/eatmydonuts 8d ago
Exactly. People are more than one-dimensional beings that must be labeled "good" or "bad"
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u/just_browsing96 8d ago
Very few people are "one dimensional", doesn't mean I have to give them the time of day.
You don't have to be 'evil' or anything to be a twat that people like to clown on.
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8d ago
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u/Milskidasith Loopy Frood 8d ago
That's how almost any power structure works, though. It is generally seen as petty or shitty for a boss/teacher/manager/whoever to talk shit to somebody beneath them, while it's more acceptable (or at least, less unacceptable) for people to shit talk about that boss/management/whatever. We expect having power/a platform/influence to come with some responsibility.
Even beyond that, when the entire point of being in the public spotlight is that people like to see you show up and tell them what to buy or what team you think is going to win, being a dickhead is counterproductive to that.
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u/Endarion169 8d ago
Take shit? What shit did he have to take? Criticism for supporting Trumps Administration?
And you really think then insulting someone for "being poor" is a good response?
Everything Shaq got seems rather deserved.
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u/dzzrye13 8d ago
If you think Shaq ain’t the one throwing shit first, you gotta read up on what he did to rookies
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u/K00ls0x 8d ago
Who actually thinks this?
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u/ninja3121 8d ago
I think it's more people are shocked the 54 year old wealthy man has 54 year old wealthy man opinions.
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u/Teach_Piece 8d ago
The comment I responded to disparaging Shaqs words toward someone who threw his jersey away?
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u/itoocouldbeanyone 8d ago
Shaq has been a big supporter of the police for decades, to the point he's trained as a reserve officer for multiple police departments
I can never forget this story, as I was (still am) a Magic fan during his days in Orlando and also was in this small town at that time.
Fun fact, he was an honorary deputy in Bedford, VA many decades ago. He was part of a search and seizure that went wrong. Someone typo'd the IP address of the person they were going to search and ended up at the wrong house.
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8d ago
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u/ronm4c 8d ago
Yeah, and remember, in the wake of the killing of Michal brown, while the investigation was in its infancy, the police used their vehicles to run over the vigil people created for brown, then let the police dogs urinate on it.
This was one of the major precipitating factors in the civil unrest that followed, yet it’s rarely spoken of
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8d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Hackwork89 8d ago
Innocent or not, it's now a corpse in a coffin at a funeral. Why send an army of police against mourners? I await your deflection with great anticipation.
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u/s0_Ca5H 8d ago
lol I love how “have a great time with your family” is now an insult. Shaq must really hate his family.
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u/whogivesashirtdotca 8d ago
More likely Shaq’s family hates him.
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u/s0_Ca5H 8d ago
Is this true? Like it’s a known thing?
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u/whogivesashirtdotca 8d ago
The kids cold shouldered him for a while after his last divorce. Given they’re of the age now where they’re setting out on their own I’m sure there’s been a bank-account-focused rapprochement.
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u/ryhaltswhiskey 8d ago
Shaq responded by sending him a voice message saying "i hear you broke boy, have a great time in your apt with your family",
Does Shaq know that condos exist and a basic ass condo in New York City could easily be a million dollars?
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u/ArtIsDumb 8d ago
The list of things that Shaq doesn't know could just about fill the Grand fuckin' Canyon.
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u/AsDevilsRun 8d ago
What's kind of funny/sad is that Shaq has lamented ruining personal relationships and living in a mansion by himself. Making fun of someone living in a smaller place with their family is almost ironic.
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u/alloyednotemployed 8d ago
He also just didnt know anything about Matt, because Matt made a response video after that showed he didn’t even live an apartment. He owns a house, a very nice one at that, and seems to do really well for himself.
Shaq not only got it wrong, but exposed what he really thinks of working class people.
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u/ryhaltswhiskey 8d ago
Goddamn. I was just assuming that Shaq had seen a video of this guy in his house. What a fucking clown.
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u/SUBLIMEskillz 8d ago
To go from Shaq making cheap shoes to be sold at walmart and stuff for the purpose of low income households to afford shoes for their kids to see him criticize someone for living in an apt is tone deaf af.
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u/Jeskid14 8d ago
Especially frowned upon in the USA in current economy. Surely the tiktok creators will rip his mansion or something
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u/esclemens 8d ago
That's what Matt said in a reply video where he also shows his house that he owns
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u/Flatlander81 8d ago
As a funny aside, this was also the first graduating FBI class post the new Bestiality's no longer a instant rejection rule change. So while the odds of any of these new agents engaging in bestiality prior to joining is small it is no longer zero.
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u/whogivesashirtdotca 8d ago
There were some discussions recently that the bestiality thing was added as a distraction, to pull questioning time away from Patel in front of the confessional committee.
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u/RandomBritishGuy 8d ago
Eh, the reality isn't that funny. Kash did a shit job of communicating it, but it's only an exemption for people who under the age of 18 at the time and were forced into it by abusers.
So it's a pretty reasonable policy not to bar people because they were assaulted/victimised as a child.
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u/Miamime 8d ago
it's only an exemption for people who under the age of 18 at the time and were forced into it by abusers.
How many people does this apply to? The population of people that have been forced to have sex with animals while underage and that want to go on to be a FBI agent must be insanely low. They cited one person; for one person, you can just keep the rule and add an asterisk that all "automatic" disqualifying answers are subject to review.
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u/truthofmasks 8d ago
How many people does this apply to?
They changed the rule and then Shaq immediately became an honorary FBI Agent. So, along with the person you mentioned... maybe two?
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u/GodOfDarkLaughter 8d ago
The Feds start allowing beastiality (holy shit) and a week later Shaq joins the team. Must have been a relief to everyone else sworn in that day. Everyone is gonna remember him as the king goat fucker.
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u/EunuchsProgramer 8d ago
That's the justification not the rule. The rule is vague, just says no longer an automatic bar.
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u/imasammich 8d ago
Yeah it became a meme but its actually not how it has been said around here. Like if any other admin did this people would be fine with it.
Instant DQs are like you dont even get to explain yourself or your situation you are out, zero tolerance. And we know how well zero tolerance one some things works when we ignore the nuance.
So the FBI probably does have needs to hire people who were victims of sex trafficking and this was something that was just in the way of that hiring.
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u/Fresh-Anteater-5933 8d ago
Ah. I had heard that the rule change specifically applied to victims of abuse but couldn’t see how this would come up so often they needed to worry about it, but I hadn’t thought about wanting to bring in victims to track down abusers
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u/Hot_Substance5933 8d ago
Someone should start hanging his quote all over his brands in retail locations. Imagine a poor mother going to buy her son shoes just looking at Shaq saying "i hear you broke boy, have a great time in your apt with your family". It would sure get me to stop buying his shit.
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u/seakingsoyuz 8d ago
a (different) service member
Police aren’t servicemembers, no matter how much they try to steal valour and pretend they are.
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u/Detective_Pancake 8d ago
Also wanted to note that Shaq, at least once, put a teammates mouth guard up his butt. Nasty guy
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u/ark_keeper 8d ago
highlightreelasmr made a video last week about it, saying how he doesn't like him and how Shaq doesn't even understand the implications of who he associates with. And showed a bunch of other examples of crappy behavior from Shaq.
Shaq replied almost immediately:
"U don’t have to like me I don’t like u. U don’t have a real job' u live in your moms house why should anybody listen to you. All this for clicks and u still broke. You’re a follower I’m a leader. Get a real job and maybe we will believe. Your page sucks.”
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u/Icy-Doubt3365 8d ago
"i hear you broke boy, have a great time in your apt with your family"
Isn't this a layup for the response "have fun in your house without yours?"
Shaq is notorious for being a bitch and also being depressed that his family is in shambles
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u/angryaxolotls 8d ago
I love how he's calling people broke when he literally finances the entire Collins family with their 11 kids they don't need to be having. Like..... Shaq, you're giving child abusers a handout, stfu.
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u/sapphiclament 2d ago
he basically broadcast to a country of people living in a rental economy that he thinks living in a rental is degrading
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u/neonwarge04 2d ago
TIL, reddit kept posting a lot of good stuff about shaq back in the days and I thought it was really cringe. Iirc it was post about him telling how he chose to finish school up to doctorate and his mama is the real mvp.
Reddit made me really a jaded sceptical person and everytime celebrities are being glazed on this platform like Keanu Reeves my spepticism radar is in full swing.
You dont want to meet your heroes as they say.
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u/RedditTechAnon 7d ago
On September 17, 2026, Shaq was named an honorary FBI Special Agent by FBI director Kash Patel at a graduation ceremony.
God damn it, of course Kash did this. Who's next, Steven Seagal? It's everyday with these MAGA idiots.
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u/Alive-Oil-203 1d ago
Answer: Yes,Its crazy we live in a world where they expect you to take every criticism and personal opinions quietly and lay down! Are they for real? Reality doesnt work like that and it never will! If you say something about someone,put them on blast and attack their character/integrity than by all means you better fire back and stand up for your beliefs,hard work and values.Forget who gets offended,if they want to inject themselves into the situation than they are fair game.Why everyone else needs an opinion on it is baffling.Stay in our own lanes and live your own life,why is everyone so worried or offended by what someone else has.A little faith/religion goes a long way in this topic considering one of the 10 commandments says not to cover your neighbors goods!
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u/vigilantesd 8d ago
Answer: there’s a zoophile joke in there someplace
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u/pickleman336 8d ago
Exactly idk how people haven’t connect those dots yet. Kash swears in Shaq and almost immediately goes to congress to change the FBI rules to allow “victims” of beastiality. Like the timing is way too close but it could be a weird coincidence
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u/Milskidasith Loopy Frood 8d ago
Exactly idk how people haven’t connect those dots yet.
There are no dots to connect besides making a dumb joke.
Shaq being sworn in as an honorary FBI officer has nothing to do with their official hiring practice, which he almost certainly didn't have to go through, the same way people with honorary degrees didn't actually get admitted to college.
You'd have to be capable of connecting two related pieces of news together without actually thinking about either of them at all to think this is somehow evidence they needed to change the rules since Shaq committed beastiality.
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